^0'^'^^^^^^ 


APR  1 9.  1915 


A  . 


BV  4010  •H42  1912 
Hendrix,  Eugene  Russell, 

1847-1927. 
Skilled  labor  for  the  Master 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR 
THE  MASTER. 


/ 


BY 


EUGENE  R.  HENDRIX,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

One  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  South. 


INTRODUCTION   BY 

BISHOP  C.  B.  GALLOWAY,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


FOURTH    THOUSAND. 


Nashville,  Tenn. 

Dallas,  Tex.;  Richmond,  Va. 

Publishing  House  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

Smith  &  Lamar,  Publishing  Agents, 

191^ 


Copyright,  igoo, 

BY 

£.  R.  Hkndrix. 


DEDICATION. 


Jbitnte  Smrrttt  Henrlrbc, 

MY  BELOVED  WIFE, 
AND  THB  STMPATHETIC  HELPER  AND  COUNSELOR  OF 
ITINERANT  MINISTRY, 

iii 


CONTENTS. 

PAOK 

Foreword vii 

Introduction xi 

I 
After  Graduation,  What  ? 3 

II 
The  Obligations  of  Professional  Life 19 

III 
A  Preacher's  Bookshelves 31 

IV 
Gristle  Turned  to  Bone 49 

V 
The  Unmaking  of  a  Preacher 63 

VI 
Dead  Reckoning 79 

VII 
The  Sacrifice  of  the  Will 95 

VIII 
The  Anointed  Preacher 111 

IX 
The  Ministry  of  Intercession 127 

X 

The  Sacrament  of  Suffering 143 


CONTENTS. 

XI  PAGfi 

Fainting  Fits 151 

XII 
The  Guest  of  God 167 

XIII 
• '  Letting  the  Light  Shine  " 183 

XIV 
My  Parish  is  the  World 193 

XV 
A  Pastor's  Perplexity 209 

XVI 

The  Pastor's  Personal  Staff 225 

XVII 
Skilled  Labor  for  Christ 243 

XVIII 
Our  Methodist  Liturgy 253 

XIX 
The  Church  of  the  Future 269 

XX 

Isaiah  as  a  City  Preacher 287 

vi 


FOREWORD. 

It  has  always  been  God's  thought  to  have  the 
best  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  For  the 
altar  there  must  be  the  firstlings  of  the  flock, 
without  spot  or  blemish  ;  while  those  who  served 
the  altar,  whether  priest  or  Levite,  must  be  with- 
out physical  or  moral  imperfection.  Defective 
vision  or  hearing,  maimed  limbs  or  members, 
served  to  exclude  from  the  service  of  the  Lord 
whether  in  the  tabernacle  or  temple.  In  requir- 
ing the  best,  Jehovah  saved  his  people  from  a 
low  estimate  of  what  constituted  worship.  Da- 
vid showed  himself  to  have  rightly  apprehended 
the  thought  and  purpose  of  God  when  he  said, 
I  will  not  offer  unto  the  Lord  that  which  cost  me 
nothing.  A  high  estimate  of  religious  things  led 
to  proper  self-respect  among  the  chosen  people 
of  the  Lord.  It  showed  as  low  a  state  of  morals 
when  our  Lord  needed  to  use  the  scourge  to  pu- 
rify the  temple  as  when  the  lame  of  the  flock  were 
offered  in  sacrifice.  It  was  only  when  people 
gave  the  best  of  their  sons  for  priests  that  they 
gave  the  best  of  their  flocks  for  offerings. 

The  honor  of   the  temple  has  never  survived 


FOREWORD 

the  honor  of  the  priest.  Religion  lost  its  hold  in 
France  when  the  unfit  ministered  at  the  altars  of 
the  Church.  The  people  no  longer  looked  to  a 
weak  pulpit  for  instruction  or  inspiration.  In  the 
absence  of  men  capable  of  preaching  Christ, 
saints  were  worshiped  rather  than  the  Saviour ; 
so  that  the  very  churches  bore  the  names  of 
saints,  and  none  bore  the  name  of  Christ.  Re- 
ligion was  no  longer  a  thing  of  the  intellect  or 
heart,  but  simply  of  the  sentiments.  Protestant- 
ism does  well  to  take  heed  to  the  danger  which 
attends  a  weak  pulpit.  Christ,  the  great  Teach- 
er, has  never  lost  his  hold  upon  the  thought  of 
the  world  save  as  his  ambassadors  have  failed  to 
grasp  and  interpret  his  teaching.  The  greatest 
Thinker  in  the  universe,  the  very  author  of  let- 
ters, who  comes  to  guide  us  into  all  truth,  makes 
Christ  and  his  teaching  his  constant  theme.  To 
every  one  seeking  rightly  to  divide  the  word  of 
truth,  and  thus  become  a  workman  that  needeth 
not  to  be  ashamed,  the  example  and  help  of  this 
Master  Workman,  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  promised 
and  given. 

This  volume  is  not  written  to  combat  preju- 
dice against  an  educated  ministry  such  as  Augus- 
tine needed  to  meet  in  his  day,  when  neglect  of 


FOREWORD 

training  was  resulting  in  the  deterioration  of  the 
Church.    It  is  rather  designed  to  stimulate  and  save 
from  arrested  development  any  whose  ideals  are 
less  than  the  highest.     It  was  the  great  and  devout 
Olin  who  said,  "Not  to  study  is  only  less  wicked 
in  a  preacher  than  not  to  pray."     It  was  a  wise 
maxim  which  Bengel  gave  to  the  preacher :  "Ap- 
ply your  whole  self  to  your  subject  and  your  whole 
subject  to  yourself."     No  true  preacher  fails  to 
measure  the  benefit  which  his  preaching  may  be  to 
others  by  the  good  which  he  himself  gets  from  it. 
It  is  because  reflection  on  the  themes  of  these  pa- 
pers has  been  helpful  to  the  writer,  as  during  the 
past  decade  he  has  written  down  his  thoughts- 
some  on  board  ship  and  others  in  the  quiet  of  his 
library— that,  after  their  appearance  in  different 
papers  and  reviews  (the  consent  of  the  different 
publishers  being  given),  he  has  yielded  to  urgent 
and  numerous    requests   for   their  publication   in 
more  permanent  form.     While  I  have  hoped  for 
good  which  might  come  to  all   Christian  workers 
who  should  become  readers  of  this  book,  I  have 
had  chiefly  in  mind  the  seven  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five ministers  whom  I  have  ordained  and  the 
more  than  five  thousand   whose   appointments  I 
have    announced    (with    less   than   one  per  cent. 
ix 


FOREWORD 

of  ccmplaints),  during  the  seventy  sessions  of 
Annual  Conferences  in  our  own  land  and  in  the 
great  mission  fields  which  I  have  been  permitted 
to  attend.  A  bishop  is  "a  pastor  of  pastors," 
whose  duty  to  his  flock  is  that  he  go  in  and  out 
before  them  and  find  pasture.  But  none  can 
bring  another  nearer  to  the  great  Shepherd  of 
souls  than  he  himself  is. 

No  one  who  has  ever  been  a  pastor  can  look 
back  on  those  delightful  days  without  gratitude 
to  a  gracious  Lord  who  counted  him  faithful,  put- 
ting him  into  this  ministry,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
without  humiliation  that  he  was  not  more  worthy 
of  that  confidence  and  had  not  made  fuller  proof 
of  his  ministry.  Conscious  of  how  far  short  my 
own  ministry  and  work  for  Christ  have  fallen  of 
the  ideal  which  I  have  sought  to  present  in  these 
papers,  I  venture  to  send  forth  this  volume  on  its 
intended  mission  of  counsel  and  help. 

For  the  excellent  Index  the  reader  is  indebted 
to  the  "skilled  labor"  of  Mr.  John  L.  Kirby,  the 
able  and  accurate  assistant  to  the  Book  Editor. 

NoRLEDGE  Place,  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
March  14,  1900. 


INTRODUCTION. 

BY   BISHOP   CHARLES   B.  GALLOWAY. 

This  is  a  timely  and  thought-provoking  book, 
written  with  a  holy  purpose,  and  sure  of  a  wide 
and  beneficent  mission.  It  was  born  in  the 
heart  of  an  earnest  and  able  minister,  and  of  his 
divine  concern  for  the  larger  usefulness  and  deep- 
er consecration  of  his  brethren  and  fellow-labor- 
ers. The  title  is  suggestive,  and  every  page  in- 
structive. These  are  not  the  thoughts  of  idle 
half  hours,  but  the  seasoned  products  of  much 
labor  and  earnest  prayer.  One  cannot  escape 
the  impression  that  some  fervent  paragraphs 
were  penned  when  the  devout  author  was  sitting 
very  close  to  the  feet  of  his  Lord. 

Emphasis  is  rightly  put  upon  honesty  in  the 
ministry — honesty  in  dealing  with  the  great  veri- 
ties of  the  gospel  and  the  spiritual  needs  of  the 
people.  The  times  demand,  not  surface  views 
and  superficial  exhortation,  but  profound  study 
and  able  exposition.  The  Church  needs,  not 
popular  pulpiteers  who  please  sinners  by  denoun- 
cing the  saints,  but  Spirit-filled  prophets,  anoint- 


INTRODUCTION 

ed  of  God,  and  burdened  for  souls.  We  want  a 
"ministry  of  axes" ;  but  the  ax  laid  at  the  root  of 
the  tree  must  be  wielded  by  a  skilled  as  well  as  a 
strong  arm. 

Trained  service  is  most  efficient,  and  nowhere 
is  skill  more  needed  than  in  the  service  of  our 
Lord.  Those  summoned  to  places  of  toil  and 
trust  in  Christ's  kingdom  should  have  mental 
and  spiritual  training  as  well  as  religious  fervor 
and  fire.  A  mere  desire  to  serve  is  not  sufficient 
qualification  for  service.  Passion  for  the  sea 
does  not  make  a  great  sailor.  Eagerness  to  de- 
fend the  flag  of  one's  country  does  not  make 
a  hero  or  a  capable  leader  of  armies.  So  a  zeal 
for  the  Lord's  house  does  not  constitute  one  an 
efficient  worker.  This  impulse,  fired  by  divine 
love,  must  not  be  lacking.  This  desire  should 
become  a  passion  ;  this  eagerness  a  sanctified  im- 
patience ;  this  zeal  all-consuming ;  but  should  be 
guided  by  a  trained  eye  and  practiced  hand. 

A   few  years    ago   one    of  the   great  Atlantic 

liners  was  driven  against  the  rocks  on  the  Irish 

coast.     Fortunately  every  soul  on  board  escaped 

safely  to  land,  but  the  majestic  ship,  which  had 

outridden  many   storms,  after  awhile   yielded  to 

the  beating  of   the  billows  and  went  to  pieces, 
xii 


INTRODUCTION 

The  commander  of  the  vessel  was  tried  before  a 
proper  tribunal  and  suspended  from  further  serv- 
ice on  the  sea.  So  vast  are  the  interests  involved 
that  no  one  can  be  intrusted  with  command  who 
betrays  the  slightest  negligence  or  incapacity. 
And  yet  in  this  larger  commerce  between  two 
worlds — in  this  more  perilous  voyage  over  the 
sea  of  life — anybody  is  thought  competent  to 
guide,  any  untrained  hand  can  hold  the  wheel, 
any  unpracticed  eye  can  take  the  daily  reckon- 
ings. Who  can  tell  how  many  vessels  have  gone 
down  beneath  the  waves,  not  because  there  were 
no  lights  along  the  shore,  but  because  there  was 
ignorance  and  negligence  in  command.'' 

Mr.  Wesley,  the  accomplished  Oxford  scholar 
and   great  leader   in   a  providential  movement — 
who  knew   the   value  of  special  training — made 
his  Annual  Conferences,  as  far  as  possible,  sup- 
ply  the   lack    of    theological  and    Bible   schools. 
Earnest,  prayerful    conversations   were    held  on 
three  prominent,  practical  topics : 
«*  What  to  teach. 
How  to  teach. 
What  to  dor 
The  Oxford  Methodists  studied  the  Greek  Tes- 
tament   as    a    qualification    for    Christian    work, 
xiii 


INTRODUCTION 

Out  from  their  room,  in  Lincoln  College,  they 
went  to  the  jails  and  market  places  to  teach  sin- 
ners the  way  to  their  Saviour. 

In  this  valuable  volume  earnest  pastors  will  find 
helpful  suggestions  in  their  parish  perplexities, 
and  all  preachers  a  fresh  inspiration  to  a  more 
careful  and  prayerful  pulpif  preparation.  May 
it  contribute  to  that  great  revival  of  evangelical 
fervor  and  power  for  which  so  many  have  ear- 
nestly prayed.  Ours  has  been  a  revival  minis- 
try ;  hence  the  marvelous  growth  of  Methodism. 
What  we  were  in  the  beginning,  and  through  the 
years  of  a  history  scarcely  less  than  a  perpetual 
miracle,  we  should  be  now  and  for  all  time. 
This  we  need  to  prevent  lapsing  into  what 
Ruskin  so  severely  characterizes  as  a  "dramatic 
Christianity  of  the  organ  and  the  aisle,  of  dawn 
service  and  twilight  revival — a  gas-lighted  and 
gas-inspired  Christianity." 

Our  divine  solicitude  for  the  salvation  of  oth- 
ers is  the  measure  of  our  religion. 

The  high  desire  that  others  may  be  blest 
Savors  of  heaven. 

The  love  which  prompted  the  Lord's  coming 
constrains  our  going.  Under  its  impulse  we  pro- 
claim the  truth  he  revealed — we  propagate  what 


INTRODUCTION 

he  disclosed — we  continue  what  he  began.  To 
the  end  that  this  timely  and  able  book  from  the 
pen  of  my  beloved  friend  and  honored  colleague 
may  kindle  a  holier  zeal  in  all  our  ministry  and 
improve  their  skill  in  vhe  service  of  our  common 
Lord,  I  hope  it  may  have  a  wide  circulation  and  a 
devout  reading.  And  I  would  ask  each  reader  to 
remember  that  "  he  serves  Jesus  best  who  serves 
the  neediest  of  men  in  their  greatest  need." 
Jackson,  Miss. 


AFTER  GRADUATION,  WHAT? 

1 


Life  is  probation,  and  the  earth  no  goal 

But  starting  point  for  man;  compel  him  strive, 

Which  means  in  man  as  good  as  reach  the  goal. 

— Brownittg, 


'Tis  life,  whereof  our  nerves  are  scant, 
Oh,  life,  not  death,  for  which  we  pant. 
More  life,  and  fuller,  that  I  want. 

-—Tennyson^ 


AFTER  GRADUATION,  WHAT? 

The  Conference  graduate  has  for  at  least 
four  years  been  working  according  to  a  plan. 
A  course  of  study  for  each  of  those  four 
years  had  to  be  pursued,  and  an  examination 
of  greater  or  less  thoroughness  had,  in  order 
to  pass  the  successive  steps  that  lead  first  to 
Conference  membership  and  deacon's  orders, 
and,  finally,  to  the  office  and  work  of  an  eld- 
er in  the  Church  of  God.  Up  to  that  time  he 
has  been  instructed  that  it  appertaineth  to  the 
office  of  deacon  to  assist  the  elder  in  divine 
service,  and  the  very  limitations  of  his  office 
relieved  him  of  some  grave  responsibilities. 
But  as  he  is  ordained  an  elder,  after  complet- 
ing his  required  studies,  he  is  exhorted  to 
have  in  remembrance  into  how  high  a  dignity 
and  to  what  weighty  an  office  he  is  called,  as  a 
messenger,  a  watchman,  and  a  steward  of  the 
Lord,  to  teach  and  premonish,  to  feed  and 
provide  for  the  Lord's  family,  to  seek  for 
Christ's  sheep  who  are  dispersed  abroad,  and 
3 


SKILLED    LABOR   FOR   THE    MASTER 

for  his  children  who  are  in  the  midst  of  this 
evil  world,  that  they  may  be  saved  through 
Christ  forever.  The  responsibility  of  the 
engineer  who  is  for  the  first  time  put  in 
charge  of  a  locomotive,  or  of  the  physician 
who  is  called  to  his  first  case,  is  small  com- 
pared with  his  who  has  the  cure  of  souls. 
While  the  exigencies  of  the  work  often  call 
men  prematurely  to  such  responsibility,  and 
habits  are  formed  before  a  high  ideal  is 
fixed  in  the  mind  of  the  young  preacher, 
the  original  conception  and  practice  of  the 
Church  was  that  during  the  undergraduate 
period  the  elder,  in  receiving  the  assistance 
of  the  younger  preacher,  should  aid  him  with 
his  counsel  in  his  studies  and  work,  and  thus 
prepare  him  for  the  solemn  hour  when  he 
should  have  a  charge  of  his  own.  Elisha 
must  be  *' a  son  of  a  prophet"  before  he 
can  take  Elijah's  place  as  a  prophet  of  the 
Lord. 

Much  wholesome  advice  is  given  the  un- 
dergraduate, aside  from  the  regular  studies 
which  are  mapped  out  for  him.  But  the 
graduate  is  left  without  any  suggestion  as  to 


AFTER  GRADUATION,  V/HAT  ? 

his  best  studies,  while  in  the  very  hour  of  his 
ordination  he  is  exhorted  to  draw  all  his  cares 
and  studies  toward  his  holy  work,  that  he 
may  wax  riper  and  stronger  in  his  ministry. 
He  solemnly  promises  to  be  diligent  in  studies 
which  may  help  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  yet  often  his  bookshelves  remain 
barren  of  all  save  his  text-books  for  the  Con- 
ference course,  and  sometimes  of  those.  The 
books  of  reference  recommended  to  the  un- 
dergraduate are  almost  as  important  as  the 
required  studies,  and  would  do  much  to 
quicken  the  mind  and  heart.  To  take  up 
these  would  be  of  great  service  in  increasing 
the  strength  of  the  young  preacher.  Many 
of  them  require  more  than  reading,  and  to 
master  some  would  make  a  thinker.  Mr. 
Gladstone  in  early  life  found  such  an  intel- 
lectual stimulus  in  studying  Butler's  ** Analo- 
gy "  that  he  renewed  that  study  from  time  to 
time  during  his  entire  public  life;  and  when 
he  retired  at  last  from  the  cares  of  leadership 
it  was  to  resume  the  study  of  Butler's  great 
work,  and  to  give  the  world  of  letters  the  re- 
sult of  these  lifetime  studies.  The  classics 
5 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

among  these  recommended  or  required  books 
will  put  the  iron  into  any  man's  blood.  One 
accustomed  to  such  food  will  crave  the  most 
nourishing  diet  for  brain  and  heart. 

Doubtless  the  strength  of  many  of  the 
fathers  was  due  to  the  books  which  they  had 
mastered.  Fit  they  were,  though  few.  They 
knew  Watson,  and  they  were  able  to  banish 
and  drive  away  all  erroneous  and  strange 
doctrines  contrary  to  God's  word  by  the  help 
of  that  great  thinker.  What  Blackstone  is  to 
the  lawyer,  that  Watson  is  to  the  preacher. 
While  neither  is  faultless,  and  each  needs  to 
be  supplemented  by  the  study  of  later  writers, 
yet  the  reading  of  such  a  work  as  Watson's 
''Institutes"  introduces  the  student  to  one 
who  *'  reasons  like  Paley,  and  descants  like 
Hall."  One  may  well  return  again  and  again 
to  a  work  which  has  called  forth  the  unstinted 
praise  of  some  of  the  greatest  intellects  of 
Edinburgh  and  of  Princeton.  Robert  Hall 
himself  said  of  Watson:  ''He  soars  into  re- 
gions of  thought  where  no  genius  but  his  own 
can   penetrate."      The   thoughts   of   such   a 

consecrated  genius   on   the   great  themes  of 
6 


AFTER    GRADUATION,   WHAT? 

redemption  are  almost  a  theological  training 
to  him  who  masters  them. 

The  Conference  graduate  who  is  wise  will 
lose  no  time  in  thoroughly  reviewing  his 
whole  course  of  undergraduate  studies. 
Whatever  the  leniency  of  the  examining  com- 
mittees in  pronouncing  his  an  approved  ex- 
amination, he  himself  best  knows  his  de- 
ficiency in  given  studies.  Letters  seeking 
advice  often  state  that  the  writer,  while  pass- 
ing his  examinations,  feels  poorly  equipped 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Is  the  course 
of  study  inadequate?  No,  it  has  not  been 
mastered.  The  text-books  have  been  read, 
but  not  digested.  The  memory  has  been 
taxed,  but  the  intellect  has  not  been  duly  em- 
ployed. The  reasoning  powers  have  not  suf- 
ficiently analyzed  the  subjects  to  be  really 
strengthened.  The  memory,  after  a  little,  no 
longer  holds  that  for  which  the  mind  cannot 
give  a  reason.  The  great  themes  which  have 
been  treated  in  the  text-books  seldom,  if  ever, 
are  treated  in  the  pulpit.  The  mind  is  still 
unfamiliar  with  them,  and  is  not  drawn  to 
them.     Perplexed   hearers   seeking   light  on 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

the  resurrection,  the  atonement,  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  can  get  no 
help  from  men  who  have  never  thought  deep- 
ly on  these  great  themes,  but  who  have  sim- 
ply crammed  for  an  examination,  and  have 
been  at  best  able  only  to  tell  what  some  one 
author  has  said  about  them. 

Schiller,  in  his  **  Maid  of  Orleans,''  said: 
"  Only  France  could  conquer  the  French." 
When  the  army  was  no  longer  supported  by 
the  people,  the  nation  was  doomed  to  defeat. 
Only  Methodists  can  destroy  Methodism.  It 
will  be  our  own  fault  if  we  do  not  have  a 
stronger  ministry,  either  through  our  remiss- 
ness in  admitting  unprepared  men  into  it  or 
in  failing  to  employ  rigid  self-discipline  to 
overcome  the  wrong  done  when  one  awakes 
to  that  fact.  A  minister  in  the  long  run 
draws  his  own  element.  If  he  be  sensation- 
al, his  crowd  will  be  the  superficial  and  the 
thoughtless,  who  will  come  not  for  **the  three 
heads,"  but  for  ''the  nine  tales"  of  (what, 
because  I  cannot  call  his  sermon,  I  must  call) 

his  performance.    The  thoughtful  in  the  com- 
8 


AFTER   GRADUATION,   WHAT  f 

munity'will  tire  of  a  pulpit  that  does  not  feed 
them.  Professional  men,  men  of  affairs,  crave 
something  for  the  brain  as  well  as  the  heart, 
and  look  forward  to  the  Sabbath  when  they 
shall  be  made  stronger  by  thoughts  which  can 
be  meditated  upon  for  an  entire  week.  Be- 
cause of  the  energy  and  searching  character 
of  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Shepard, 
and  his  skill  in  detecting  errors,  the  location 
of  Harvard  College  was  determined  to  be  at 
Cambridge.  The  pulpit  which  can  bring  a 
great  college  into  existence,  and  mold  its 
thought  for  years,  becomes  the  mightiest  force 
in  any  community.  Thoughtful  laymen  are 
asking  why  stronger  men  do  not  fill  our  pul- 
pits now,  and  they  are  casting  anxious  eyes 
upon  those  who  have  been  permitted  to  pass 
the  examining  committees  in  the  different 
churches. 

The  following  from  the  Interior  may  ap- 
peal to  the  self-respect  of  any  who  deem  that 
they  are  in  their  place  in  the  ministry  through 
the  laxity  of  their  examiners  and  vv^ithout  the 
mastery  of  the  required  course  of  study.  It 
is  to  such  laxity  in  part  that  are  traceable 
9 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

^*  the  losses  of  Presbyterianism,"  as  well  as 
of  Methodism,  which  are  now  engaging  the 
anxious  thought  of  our  best  minds  in  both 
Churches : 

It  is  true  that  the  ministerial  brethren  in  Presbytery 
are  tenderly  reluctant  to  exclude  a  candidate  under  ex- 
amination for  the  gospel  ministry.  The  elders  defer 
largely  to  the  opinions  of  the  ministers,  but  close  obser- 
vation would  show  that  if  they  were  taking  the  lead  they 
would  often  vote  against  candidates  where  the  ministers 
would  vote  for  them.  Three  elders,  lately  returning 
from  Presbytery,  were  discussing  the  examinations  of 
certain  candidates  just  held,  and  all  agreed  that  they 
ought  not  to  have  been  received.  One  said  of  the  can- 
didates: "Grown  men  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  ask  ad- 
mission under  the  conscious  knowledge  that  their  exam- 
inations had  discovered  their  lack  of  preparation,  and 
that  if  received  at  all  it  would  be  by  throwing  themselves 
upon  the  sympathy  of  Presbytery."  This  elder  was  a 
schoolmaster,  and  quickly  discovered  the  weak  spot  both 
in  the  candidates  and  in  the  ministers.  Yet  the  minis- 
ters do  continually  admit  weak  men  because  of  their 
sympathies.  .  .  .  The  result  is,  that  having  granted 
as  a  favor  what  they  ought  to  have  been  compelled  to 
acknowledge  as  a  divine  right,  the  brethren  treat  such 
newcomers  with  condescension  and  pass  them  over  in 
the  whole  make-up  and  transaction  of  presbyterial  busi- 
ness. These  inferior  men  are  helped  by  the  Home  Mis- 
sion Committee  to  some  feeble  country  charge,  and  they 

lO 


AFTER   GRADUATION,   WHAT? 

drift  from  one  such  to  another,  leaving  something  of 
wreckage  at  each  place  as  they  go.  There  being  a  super- 
abundance of  such  material,  all  the  better  equipped  men 
naturally  and  necessarily  watch  out  for  the  stronger 
churches  of  towns  and  cities.  The  rural  churches  are 
thus  getting  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of  incompe- 
tent ministers,  of  whom  it  has  more  than  once  been 
urged  in  Presbytery  that  "  we  must  have  such  men,  who 
will  be  willing  to  supply  our  poor  and  country  charges." 
.  .  .  Times  have  changed  indeed,  but  the  people  are 
still  in  the  country,  and  our  great  Presbyterian  Church 
ought  to  insist  that  not  a  single  man  shall  enter  our  min- 
istry who  is  not  qualified,  so  far  as  schooling  goes,  to 
stand  without  shame  beside  any  other  minister  in  the 
land.  It  is  not  true  that  scholarly  and  high-bred  young 
men  from  our  seminaries  will  not  take  up  work  with 
poor  rural  churches.  They  will;  and  they  will  make 
them  centers  of  culture  and  godliness,  though  they  be 
financially  weak.  But  if  the  Presbytery  continue  to 
gather  in  culls  from  all  denominations,  and  receive  in- 
competents through  sympathy,  or  the  mistaken  notion 
that  we  must  have  inferior  men  for  poor  fields,  instead  of 
demanding  the  best  for  every  church,  we  shall  ere  long 
see  our  noble  past  trailed  in  the  dust.  .  .  .  Let  us 
commit  the  Word  unto  those  who  are  able  to  teach  oth- 
ers also. 

But  despite  the  low  standard  of  examina- 
tion for  admission  to  the  bar,  there  are  great 
lawyers;   and  although  the  country  is  full  of 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR   THE   MASTER 

physicians  who  have  always  been  ill  prepared 
for  their  work,  yet  many  eminent  men  have 
adorned  the   medical  profession.     In    either 
case  it  has  usually  been  due  to  a  fresh  start. 
Men    have   mastered  what   they  had    simply 
read    before.     In   some   instances  they  have 
been  wise   enough  to  take   extra  courses  of 
lectures,  which   have    marked    an    epoch   in 
their  lives.     I  saw  at  Fort  Monroe  some  years 
ago  a  school  of  instruction  in  ballistics,  where 
many   army   officers,  after  years  of  service, 
had   come  to   pursue  new  studies  in   mathe- 
matics   and     gunnery.       Such    postgraduate 
work  has  made  the  British  navy,  and  enabled 
our  own  navy  to  astonish  the  world   by  the 
proficiency  of  our  seamen  and  navigators,  the 
men  on  the  bridge  and  behind  the  guns.    The 
men  who  were  not  content  with  having  sim- 
ply passed  the  early  examinations  which  se- 
cured them  a  commission  or  a  diploma  are 
those    who    have    paid    the    debt   which,   as 
Lord    Bacon   says,   every   man    owes    to    his 
own  profession. 

Character  is  nowhere  more  apparent  than 
in  a  man's  course  when  he  is  left  to  himself 

12 


AFTER  GRADUATION,  WHAT? 

and  can  choose  his  own  tasks  and  determine 
his  own  hours  and  methods  of  work.     Indo- 
lence and  lying,  which  are  said  to  be  the  be- 
setting sins  of  humanity,  are  also  the  tempta- 
tions, if  no  more,  of  the  man  of  God.     These 
are  Satan's  agencies  for  the  unmaking  of  a 
preacher.     The  fact  that  in  our  Methodism 
every  preacher  has  a  charge,  and  every  church 
a  pastor,  is  not  without  its  temptations  to  the 
Conference   graduate   who   is    now    sure   of 
work  so  long  as  he  remains  an  itinerant.     In 
the   Northern    Presbyterian    Church    one    in 
every  eight  of  the  churches  is  without  a  pas- 
tor, and  one  in  every  eight  of  the  ministers  is 
without    a    church.      In    the    Congregational 
Church  the  conditions  are  even  more  serious, 
for  one  in  every  six   churches  is  without  a 
pastor,  and  one  in  every  three  Congregational 
preachers  is  without  a  charge.     Weak   men 
cannot  build  up  strong  churches,  and  many  a 
preacher  finds  that  while  he  is  employed  as  a 
supply  the  people  hesitate  about  making  him 
their  pastor  in  the  hope  of  doing  better.     But 
for  our  economy  many  a  Conference  gradu- 
ate would  still  be  looking  for  a  call,  and  many 


13 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

a  church  would  be  inviting  candidates.  In 
the  meantime,  as  in  some  other  denomina- 
tions, individual  churches  would  become  so 
weak  that  after  remaining  long  without  serv- 
ices they  would  be  tempted  to  mortgage  their 
church  property  to  meet  the  scanty  claim  of 
a  preacher. 

Paul's  deep  solicitude  for  the  character  of 
the  men  who  were  to  compose  the  ministry 
appears  in  the  repeated  phrase,  *'  apt  to 
teach,"  which  he  deemed  a  necessary  quali- 
fication of  a  preacher.  To  Timothy  he  writes 
among  the  last  words  which  he  ever  wrote: 
**Thou  therefore,  my  son,  be  strong  in  the 
grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  the  things 
that  thou  hast  heard  from  me  among  many 
witnesses,  the  same  commit  thou  to  faithful 
men,  who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also." 
The  perils  of  each  period  of  the  world's  his- 
tory require  strong  men  in  the  pulpit.  After 
specifying  some  of  the  evils  of  his  time,  Paul 
says  to  Timothy:  *'  If  thou  put  the  brethren 
in  mind  of  these  things,  thou  shalt  be  a  good 
minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  nourished  [or,  as  it 
is  well  put  by  Bishop  Ellicott's  Commentary, 


AFTER  GRADUATION,   WHAT? 

ever  training  thyself]  in  the  words  of  the 
faith,  and  of  the  good  doctrine  which  thou 
hast  followed." 

This  self-training  which  an  apostle  urges 
upon  the  preacher  becomes  the  supreme  duty 
of  the  Conference  graduate,  whatever  his  ed- 
ucational opportunities.  Unless  one  is  first 
apt  to  learn,  he  will  not  be  apt  to  teach.  The 
messenger  of  God  must  be  first  sure  of  his 
message.  Unless  he  is  strong  in  the  certain- 
ty of  his  message  as  being  the  very  mind  of 
God,  concluded  and  proved  from  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  he  cannot  long  respect  himself. 
The  learning  in  the  sermon  must  first  be  in 
the  man,  no  less  than  its  fire  and  pathos. 
Unless  the  fuel  of  thought  be  in  the  heart, 

we  cannot  expect  the  tongue  of  fire. 
IS 


THE  OBLIGATIONS  OF  PROFES- 
SIONAL LIFE. 


'Tis  not  what  man  Does  which  exalts  him,  but 
What  man  Would  do. 

— Browning-, 

To  start  thee  on  thy  outrunning  race, 
Christ  shows  the  splendor  of  his  face; 
What  shall  that  face  of  splendor  be 
When  at  the  goal  he  welcomes  thee? 

— Rosseiti. 


II 

THE  OBLIGATIONS  OF  PROFESSIONAL  LIFE. 

A  NOTABLE  feature  of  our  times  is  the 
large  increase  in  the  number  of  persons 
seeking  to  devote  themselves  to  profes- 
sional life.  Nearly  one  million  of  our  pop- 
ulation were  enrolled  by  the  last  census- tak- 
ers as  engaged  in  professional  service,  and 
of  these  about  a  third  were  women.  In  fact, 
the  largest  number  reported  as  engaged  in 
any  one  profession  was  342,811,  who  were 
teachers,  and  of  these  245,230  were  women. 
Physicians  and  surgeons  come  next,  and 
number  over  100,000,  nearly  5,000  being 
women.  Lawyers,  who  number  nearly  90,- 
000,  barely  exceed  those  enrolled  as  clergy- 
men, including  the  1,235  women  in  the  latter 
profession  as  against  the  208  enrolled  as 
lawyers.  Government  officials  come  next, 
an  army  of  nearly  80,000,  including  nearly 
5,000  women,   and  under   the    civil    service 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

rules  doubtless  dignifying  their  new  profes-> 
sion.  Engineers  (civil,  mechanical,  electric- 
al, and  mining)  soon  follow,  more  than  40,- 
000  strong,  with  over  a  hundred  women 
among  the  number.  As  musicians  and 
teachers  of  music  more  than  60,000  are  en- 
rolled, the  women  outnumbering  the  men; 
and  of  the  more  than  20,000  artists  and 
teachers  of  art  nearly  half  are  women.  There 
is  not  a  single  profession  in  which  women  do 
not  appear  by  the  hundred,  save  only  in  that 
of  architects,  where  they  reach  only  a  few 
more  than  a  score.  As  dentists,  journalists, 
designers,  and  inventors,  authors,  actors,  and 
even  as  theatrical  managers  and  showmen, 
women  are  numerous,  while  735  appear  as 
professors  in  colleges. 

Thus  far  the  government  hasVecognized  only 
some  sixteen  forms  of  professional  service; 
but  it  seems  probable  that  some  that  are  now 
known  as  occupations  may  a  few  years  hence 
be  designated  as  professions.  Formerly  the 
ministry,  law,  and  medicine  were  known  spe- 
cifically as  the  professions;  but  as  the  appli- 
cations of  science  and  learning  are  extended 
20 


OBLIGATIONS    OF    PROFESSIONAL   LIFE 

to  Other  departments  of  affairs,  other  voca- 
tions also  receive  the  name.  A  profession  is 
the  calling  or  occupation  which  one  professes 
to  understand  and  to  follow.  It  is  a  vocation 
in  which  a  professed  knowledge  of  some  de- 
partment of  science  or  learning  is  used  by  its 
practical  application  to  affairs  of  others, 
either  in  advising,  or  teaching  them,  or  in 
serving  their  welfare  or  interests  in  the  prac- 
tice of  an  art  founded  upon  it.  The  word  im- 
plies professed  attainments  in  special  knowl- 
edge as  distinguished  from  mere  skill;  a 
practical  dealing  with  affairs  as  distinguished 
from  mere  study  or  investigation ;  and  an  ap- 
plication of  such  knowledge  to  uses  for  oth- 
ers as  a  vocation  as  distinguished  from  its 
pursuit  for  one's  own  purposes.  The  whole 
idea  of  a  profession  is  based  upon  the  claim 
of  special  preparation  for  a  specific  work  in 
the  interests  of  others.  The  statutes  in  many 
if  not  all  states,  therefore,  authorize  arrest 
in  civil  action  for  misconduct  in  profession- 
al employment.  A  professional  man  is  thus 
not  only  a  servant  of  the  public,  but  one 
who  in  bidding  for  patronage  professes  spe- 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

cial  equipment  of  a  scientific  or  literary  char- 
acter for  that  service. 

While  a  professional  man  is  in  some  im- 
portant sense  a  specialist,  he  owes  it  to  his 
clients  or  patrons  to  be  more.  A  man  needs 
to  be  a  lawyer  rather  than  an  advocate,  a 
theologian  rather  than  a  preacher,  a  doctor 
rather  than  a  practitioner.  It  is  the  full  man 
that  makes  the  great  professional  man.  This 
makes  possible  the  light  from  above  which 
the  successful  man  is  able  to  focus  where  it 
is  most  needed.  Out  of  his  general  knowl- 
edge the  lawyer  is  able  to  know  how  to  spe- 
cialize in  a  given  case  in  order  to  b-ecome  the 
great  advocate,  and  the  theologian  to  be- 
come a  convincing  and  successful  preacher. 
Division  of  labor  narrows  life  and  makes  it 
mechanical,  if  one  will  not  look  beyond  his 
specialty.  The  debt  which  Lord  Bacon  said 
that  every  man  owed  to  his  profession  is  to 
enrich  it  not  only  with  greater  skill  but  larger 
knowledge  as  well.  The  professions,  now 
estranged  from  each  other,  and  like  rivers 
making  their  own  channels  to  the  sea,  have  a 
common  starting  point  in  science  and  knowl- 


OBLIGATIONS   OF   PROFESSIONAL   LIFE 

edge  which  feed  them  all,  as  the  eternal 
snows  feed  the  water  courses,  whether  they 
seek  the  Atlantic  or  the  Gulf.  Rufus  Choate 
once  wrote  to  Charles  Sumner:  ''  Out  of 
Edmund  Burke  can  be  cut  50  Mackintoshes, 
175  Macaulays,  40  Jeffreys,  250  Sir  Robert 
Peels,  and  leave  him  greater  than  Fox  and 
Pitt  together." 

It  is  very  essential  to  keep  in  mind  the  dif- 
ference between  a  business  and  a  profession. 
In  a  business  a  man  may  avow  that  his  aim 
is  to  acquire  wealth,  and  so  be  influenced 
by  regard  for  selfish  interests,  even  while 
seeking  patronage  on  the  score  of  superior 
judgment  in  selecting  his  goods.  He  calls 
his  wares  ''goods"  in  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  he  must  furnish  things  that  are  good 
while  thus  seeking  a  fortune.  But  by  the 
terms  of  a  profession  a  man  becomes  a  serv- 
ant of  others,  and  while  the  motive  to  ac- 
quire wealth  may  not  be  lacking,  its  avowal, 
or  even  presence  as  a  supreme  consideration, 
would  be  fatal  to  professional  service.  The 
noblest  profession  may  be  degraded  by  a  low 
motive,  while  the  humblest  may  be  ennobled 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

by  a  lofty  one.  In  short,  without  the  con- 
stant presence  of  a  worthy  motive,  which 
ever  seeks  the  best  fruits  in  the  fields  of 
science  and  learning  to  be  shared  by  his 
clients,  the  professional  man  becomes  a 
drudge  and  his  work  irksome.  He  lacks  sym- 
pathy with  his  own  profession  and  all  other 
professions,  because  he  is  no  longer  re- 
freshed from  the  heights  which  belong  in 
common  to  all  the  professions.  A  scant 
stream  can  never  become  a  millrace.  It  is 
the  abundant  life  of  the  bounding  brook, 
that  has  been  fed  from  the  eternal  snows, 
which  turns  the  mighty  wheels  of  industry 
and  makes  the  great  rivers  of  commerce. 
The  man  who  tires  of  his  profession  is  apt  to 
be  a  stranger  to  that  abundant  life. 

All  professional  life  has  its  origin  in  human 
needs.  The  original  three  professions  may 
almost  be  said  to  have  had  their  origin  in 
human  infirmities  which  endangered  the  soul, 
the  life,  the  property  of  men,  and  thus  re- 
quired the  help  of  the  minister,  the  physi- 
cian, and  the  lawyer.  While  these  stood 
pledged  to  bring  the  best  knowledge  and 
24 


OBLIGATIONS   OF  PROFESSIONAL   LIFE 

skill  to  minister  to  humanity  in  its  needs, 
in  that  very  effort  they  have  contributed  to 
the  length  as  well  as  the  security  and  happi- 
ness of  human  life.  The  doctor  must  know- 
more  than  to  heal  disease ;  by  proper  sanita- 
tion he  must  show  how  it  is  to  be  prevented. 
The  lawyer  not  only  recovers  stolen  proper- 
ty, but  prepares  deeds  and  wills  so  accurate- 
ly that  no  advantage  can  be  taken  of  his 
client.  The  minister  is  more  than  the  preach- 
er of  righteousness;  he  is  the  teacher,  the 
expounder  of  truth  and  of  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises,  the  comforter  and 
counselor.  The  professions  minister  not 
only  to  the  wants  of  humanity,  but  through 
art  and  architecture,  through  music  and  lit- 
erature, they  minister  to  taste  as  well.  In 
each  of  them  the  idea  of  ministering  or  serv- 
ice is  paramount.  The  professions  exist  for 
the  betterment  of  the  race.  The  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  must  be  present  to  make  the 
professional  man  the  servant  of  humanity. 
Like  the  Great  Teacher  and  the  Good  Phy- 
sician, his  motto  will  be,  *'Not  to  be  min- 
istered unto,  but  to  minister." 

25 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

One  of  the  four  golden  pillars  upon  which 
the  account  of  our  Lord's  life  rests  is  fur- 
nished by  "  the  beloved  physician."  -  It  was 
his  fullness  of  preparation  for  his  profession 
in  that  day  which  makes  his  narrative  so  at- 
tractive, as  his  trained  powers  of  observa- 
tion and  of  statement  contribute  to  make 
Luke's  Gospel  what  Renan  calls  **the  most 
beautiful  book  in  the  world."  Moreover, 
Luke's  love  of  humanity  makes  him  the  sym- 
pathetic disciple  and  the  faithful  historian. 
We  are  prepared  to  see  the  good  physician 
become  the  fellow-traveler  and  fellow-worker 
with  the  apostle  who  had  been  brought  up 
at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  and  to  read  from  his 
pen  how  '*the  doctor  of  the  law,  had  in  rep- 
utation among  all  the  people,"  pleaded  for 
just  treatment  toward  the  apostles  who  had 
been  cast  into  prison.  It  is  in  ministering  to 
humanity  in  its  most  sacred  hours  that  the 
preacher,  the  physician,  and  the  lawyer  are 
found  together  in  the  chamber  where  the 
good  man  meets  his  fate,  which  is  privi- 
leged   beyond    the    common    walks    of   life. 

Each  brings  not  only  his  best  skill,   but  his 
26 


OBLIGATIONS   OF   PROFESSIONAL   LIFE 

best  knowledge  of  his  profession,  that  wheth- 
er the  ministry  be  to  the  body  or  to  the  soul, 
it  may  be  worthy  of  perfect  confidence. 
While  these  still  represent  the  learned  pro- 
fessions and  have  learned  to  make  the  name 
honorable,  they  are  now  joined  by  many 
others  who  have  helped  to  create  new  profes- 
sions because  capable  of  ministering  to  hu- 
manity in  its  intellectual,  physical,  and  spirit- 
ual needs. 

Noblesse  oblige  belongs  to  professional  life 
in  our  day  as  really  as  to  the  nobility  of  the 
past.  Not  only  rank,  but  profession,  im- 
poses obligation.  Profession  gives  rank. 
Men  capable  of  high  ideals  have  changed  the 
newspaper  from  a  mere  gatherer  of  news 
into  a  mighty  agency  in  molding  public  opin- 
ion. Journalism  is  a  profession  to  those  who 
make  it  such,  but  to  others  it  is  a  trade.  It 
is  one  of  the  hopeful  features  of  our  day  to 
see  the  evolution  of  a  trade  into  a  profession, 
as  well  as  to  witness  the  denial  of  profession- 
al privileges  to  those  who  are  unmindful  of 
professional  obligations. 

While  the  Christian  ministry  is  more  than 
27 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

a  profession  in  that  '*  no  one  taketh  on  him 
this  office  save  he  that  was  called  of  God  as 
was  Aaron,"  yet  viewed  from  below  it  is 
still  a  profession,  whatever  else  it  may  be; 
and  men  do  rinrht  in  holdins^  a  minister  to  all 
that  he  professes  to  know  and  to  teach,  as 
well  as  to  be,  as  one  who  believes  himself 
called  of  God  to  the  holy  ministry.  The  ob- 
ligations of  professional  life  are  upon  him. 
28 


A  PREACHER'S  BOOKSHELVES. 


Where'er  a  noble  deed  is  wrought, 
Where'er  is  spoken  a  noble  thought, 
Our  hearts  in  glad  surprise 
To  higher  levels  rise. 

The  tidal  wave  of  deeper  souls 
Int-o  our  inmost  being  rolls. 
And  lifts  us  unawares 
Out  of  all  meaner  cares. 

— Lotigfellow, 

I  am  the  owner  of  the  sphere, 

Of  the  seven  stars  and  the  solar  year, 

Of  Caesar's  hand,  and  Plato's  brain, 

Of  Lord  Christ's  heart,  and  Shakespeare's  strain. 

—Emerson. 


m 

A  PREACHER'S  BOOKSHELVES. 

A  MAN  no  more  builds  himself  into  his  house 
than  he  does  into  his  bookshelves.  Personal 
peculiarities  show  themselves  in  brick  or  stone 
or  wood,  if  the  man  can  build  as  he  wishes, 
and  the  plan  or  decorations  or  materials  some- 
how tell  the  character  of  the  man  who  has 
thus  built  himself  into  the  structure.  The 
arrangements  tell  of  an  orderly  mind  or  of 
one  indifferent  to  system.  If  such  is  the  case 
in  a  home  where  the  wishes  of  many  need  to 
be  consulted,  more  true  is  it  of  the  library  for 
personal  use  that  it  reflects  the  mental  peculi- 
arities of  its  owner,  who  is  usually  its  founder 
as  well.  Often  a  mere  glance  at  its  **  Homi- 
letical  Commentaries,"  its  *' Books  of  Skele- 
tons," its  "  Sermon  Helps,"  its  *'  Pulpit  Illus- 
trations," which  constitute  the  major  part  of 
its  stores,  shows  that  the  preacher  has  been 
building  a  library  and  a  ministerial  outfit  un- 
der a  mistaken  notion  as  to  how  to  meet  his 
31 


SKILLED    LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

real  needs.  Such  a  library  is  more  of  a 
**museum  of  crutches  "  than  a  table  spread 
with  nourishing  food  for  the  brain  and  heart 
as  well  as  the  hands  and  feet.  A  nourished 
brain  and  a  glowing  heart  are  the  best  '*  pul- 
pit helps."  These  canned  goods  on  a  preach- 
er's bookshelves  can  never  put  much  iron  in 
the  blood  or  gray  matter  in  the  brain.  Better 
is  the  farmer  who  now  and  then  kills  a  beef, 
or  who  raises  his  own  mutton,  than  one  whose 
food  comes  in  the  form  of  tinned  goods,  how- 
ever attractive  the  labels  or  celebrated  the 
brands.  The  ruddy  cheek  and  the  clear  eye 
tell  of  good  digestion  and  of  strong  limbs 
made  stronger,  which  the  dyspeptic  may 
never  hope  for  who  lives  on  the  culls  from 
the  packing  houses  intended  for  the  indolent 
dwellers  in  the  tropics. 

Happy  is  that  preacher  who  has  either  es- 
caped such  folly  or  who  can  see  his  mistake, 
and  hastens  to  get  rid  of  this  waste  on  his 
bookshelves.  Such  books  are  as  bad  as  stim- 
ulants which  excite  but  never  nourish,  and 
leave  the  patient  unstrengthened  and  needing 
a  larger  draught  the  next  time.     But  the  mor- 


A   PREACHER  S   BOOKSHELVES 

al  question  involved  is  more  serious  than  the 
question  of  intellectual  poverty.  Such  scrap 
work  as  comes  from  the  use  of  these  books  is 
not  sermon-making,  and  the  use  of  the  fin- 
ished product  of  somebody  else's  brain,  with- 
out giving  full  credit,  undermines  the  char- 
acter of  the  preacher  who  does  it,  and  dis- 
counts his  pulpit.  Better  a  bonfire  for  the 
heat  which  will  be  produced  by  all  such  helps 
being  cast  into  the  flames  than  any  real  help 
which  may  come  from  them  to  the  preacher 
or  his  people. 

To  analyze  for  oneself  some  great  sermon 
of  another,  to  separate  its  exegesis  from  its 
argument,  to  verify  its  positions  from  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  to  distinguish  the  limits  of 
its  application,  to  note  its  figures  of  speech 
and  the  character  of  its  illustrations,  is  an  in- 
tellectual exercise  of  a  high  order,  and  may 
be  to  a  preacher  what  an  analytical  study  of 
a  great  masterpiece  is  to  an  artist  in  helping 
to  make  him  a  painter.  One  such  sermon  as 
that  preached  before  Oxford  University  by 
Canon  Mozley  on  **The  Reversal  of  Human 
Judgment"  may  be  read  aloud  alone  or  in 
3  33 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

company  with  a  fellow-preacher  or  in  one's 
family;  and  while  its  searching  truths  may 
prove  a  spiritual  tonic  for  a  twelvemonth,  the 
careful  study  of  its  argument  may  mark  an 
intellectual  epoch  in  one's  ministry.  So  of 
Dr.  Chalmers's  sermon  on  *'The  Expulsive 
Power  of  a  New  Affection,"  or  of  John  Wes- 
ley's on  *'The  Great  Assize,"  or  of  Robert 
Hall's  on  *' Without  God  in  the  World,"  or 
of  Richard  Watson's  on  '*  Man  Magnified  by 
the  Divine  Regard." 

Lord  Chatham  said  that  a  large  part  of  his 
early  discipline  consisted  in  translating  the 
masterpieces  of  certain  orators  and  histori- 
ans, and  that  this  clothing  of  the  thoughts  of 
another  in  a  dress  which  was  at  once  **  close 
and  easy"  not  only  gave  him  so  ample  a  vo- 
cabulary, but  was  the  best  means  of  acquir- 
ing a  forcible  and  expressive  style.  He  knew 
how  to  use  words  as  an  artist  does  colors,  by 
mixing  them  with  his  brains.  He  paid  a  trib- 
ute to  the  pulpit  that  he  never  paid  to  the 
masters  of  style  among  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans by  reading  and  rereading  the  sermons 
of  Dr.  Isaac  Barrow  so  that  he  knew  many 
34 


A   PREACHER  S  BOOKSHELVES 

of  them  by  heart.  Holding  in  memory  and 
in  his  mental  structure  the  fruits  of  such 
studies,  he  attributed  largely  to  Barrow  his 
copious  and  choice  diction.  He  even  took 
time  twice  to  go  through  the  best  dictionary 
published  before  Johnson's,  and  examined 
each  word,  that  he  might  the  better  under- 
stand its  import  and  construction,  and  thus 
bring  the  whole  range  of  our  language  under 
his  control.  To  see  how  others  used  lan- 
guage, and  especially  such  a  master  of  speech 
as  Barrow,  made  his  studies  of  the  great  ora- 
tions or  sermons  of  others  an  intellectual  de- 
light. If  a  statesman  should  be  so  helped  by 
studying  sermons,  how  much  additional  ben- 
efit may  a  preacher  get  from  the  masters  of 
assemblies  who  have  left  us  some  of  their 
great  arguments  and  impassioned  appeals. 
Such  a  work  as  Goodrich's  "  British  Elo- 
quence," giving  the  best  speeches  of  the 
most  eminent  orators,  is  more  valuable  than 
all  "Illustrative  Readings"  or  ready-made  il- 
lustrations for  the  pulpit.  Even  better  would 
be  Fish's  *' Masterpieces  of  Pulpit  Elo- 
quence," going  back  to  the  days  of  Chrys- 
35 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

ostom,  or  Fish's  **  Pulpit  Eloquence  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century."  Such  studies  would 
prevent  one's  taking  as  his  model  any  one 
preacher  like  Bascom  or  Munsey  and  copy- 
ing his  faults  rather  than  his  merits  of  style. 

Often  next  to  their  great  masterpieces  the 
lives  of  these  strong  sons  of  God  in  the  pulpit 
and  of  the  Christian  heroes  in  the  mission 
fields  are  found  most  helpful  in  stimulating 
the  preacher  in  his  study  and  work.  Dr.  Jo- 
seph Parker,  of  London,  said  recently  that 
when  he  became  despondent  or  weak  he  took 
down  the  volumes  that  treat  of  the  heroic  la- 
bors of  the  early  Methodist  itinerants  and 
missionaries,  and  that  soon  the  despondent 
mood  passed  away.  Every  Church  has  its 
calendar  of  saints,  with  whose  lives  and  work 
we  may  do  well  to  become  familiar.  I  placed 
in  the  hands  of  one  of  our  best  preachers 
Parkman's  ** Jesuits  in  North  America,"  and 
he  told  me  that  he  could  not  sleep  the  night 
he  finished  it,  so  moved  was  he  by  the  heroes 
of  the  Catholic  faith  who  counted  not  their 
lives  dear  unto  them  in  their  work  among  the 

Indians  who  delighted  to  torture  them. 
36 


A  preacher's  bookshelves 

Not  less  helpful  is  Uhlhorn's  **  Conflict  of 
Christianity  with  Heathenism,"  or  the  life  of 
such  a  moral  hero  as  Jonathan  Edwards  or 
Thomas  Chalmers  or  John  Witherspoon,  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  whose  inspiring  words  and 
example  secured  other  signatures  to  that  his- 
toric document  that  so  nearly  failed  of  its 
passage.  Among  missionaries  one  cannot  af- 
ford to  miss  the  life  of  David  Livingstone,  or 
of  Alexander  Mackay,  whom  Stanley  pro- 
nounced as  ''next  to  Livingstone,  the  great 
missionary  of  our  day";  and,  above  all,  of 
the  life  of  John  Paton,  which  has  quickened 
the  missionary  pulse  of  more  preachers  than 
any  other  work  of  the  present  generation,  as 
the  lives  of  Henry  Martyn  and  of  Adoniram 
Judson  did  the  pulse  of  the  last  generation. 
Such  great  sermons  and  so  heroic  and  self- 
sacrificing  lives  help  to  show  a  preacher  both 
what  to  do  and  what  to  be.  Such  books  are 
not  dry  skeletons,  but  living,  speaking,  suf- 
fering, conquering  men  who  dwell  in  one's 
librar}^,  and,  on  our  invitation,  preach  again 
to  us  and  recite  the  triumphs  of  the  cross, 
37 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

whether  in  the  wilds  of  America  or  of  Africa, 
whether  amoncr  the  mobs  of  Great  Britain  or 
of  the  South  Sea  Islands.  Such  a  book  as 
the  **  Life  of  Arnold  of  Rugby  "  shames  the 
cowardice  out  of  a  preacher,  and  Frederick 
Robertson  has  taught  a  personal  loyalty  to 
Christ  that  has  made  a  man  heroic  amid  the 
commonplaces  and  attritions  of  life.  One 
may  forget  that  he  followeth  not  after  us 
when  he  sees  such  a  lofty  spirit  casting  out 
devils  in  Christ's  name. 

Whatever  else  a  preacher  has  on  his  book- 
shelves, he  needs  to  get  the  best  in  four  great 
departments  of  theology,  such  as  bibhcal  or 
exegetical  theology,  which  will  help  to  inter- 
pret and  understand  the  Holy  Scriptures; 
systematic  or  dogmatic  theology,  in  which 
department  are  the  orderly  and  systematic 
statements  of  doctrines  with  the  reasons  or 
arguments  sustaining  them ;  historical  theol- 
ogy, or  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
from  and  including  the  apostles  of  our  Lord; 
and  practical  theology,  which  treats  of  the 
preparation  and  delivery  of  sermons,  the  du- 
ties of  the  pastorate,  and  the  proper  devel- 
38 


A  PREACHER  S   BOOKSHELVES 

opment  of  the  man  himself  as  a  leader  and 
shepherd  of  the  flock  of  Christ.  Such  a 
foundation,  well  laid  in  carefully  selected 
works,  makes  sure  the  basis  of  a  growing 
power  as  a  student  and  preacher  of  the  Word. 
Without  these  as  a  basis,  a  preacher's  libra- 
ry would  be  like  a  physician's  library  lack- 
ing in  works  on  anatomy,  physiology,  hy- 
giene, antiseptics,  chemistry.  The  parallel 
lines  of  reading  given  above  help  to  secure 
both  a  thorough  and  symmetrical  culture  as 
a  preacher,  and  they  should  be  constantly 
pursued.  No  year  should  pass  without  some 
work  is  done  in  each  line,  if  one  is  seeking  to 
be  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  word 
and  work  as  a  minister  of  Christ.  Many  a 
monograph  is  being  written  on  some  one  doc- 
trine, or  period  of  Church  history,  on  some 
one  book  of  the  Bible,  or  some  best  method 
of  Christian  work,  which  will  find  its  place 
under  one  of  these  four  heads — biblical,  dog- 
matic, historical,  practical — on  the  most  im- 
portant of  a  preacher's  bookshelves. 

Next  in  importance  as  helping  to  illumine 
the    condition    of    mankind,    both   with    and 
39 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

without  Christianity,  is  a  shelf  of  carefully 
selected  works  bearing  on  general  history, 
such  as  Fisher's,  as  well  as  special  histories 
like  Gibbon's  '*  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire"  (in  many  respects  the  best 
history  of  the  Church  as  well).  Macaulay, 
Mommsen's  Rome,  or  Curtius's  Greece, 
Motley  and  Prescott,  and  especially  Park- 
man,  in  his  "  Old  France  in  the  New  World  " 
and  his  other  historical  works  bearing  on 
early  American  history,  are  invaluable. 

The  great  essayists,  like  Macaulay,  Car- 
lyle,  Emerson,  are  still  valuable;  and  some, 
like  Bacon  and  John  Foster,  specially  helpful 
to  a  preacher. 

In  philosophy  Hamilton,  Lotze,  McCosh, 
and  Bowne  will  prepare  the  way  for  others 
as  they  may  be  needed. 

In  poetry  it  is  desirable  that  the  preach- 
er should  have  the  best,  like  Dante,  Mil- 
ton, Shakespeare,  Wordsworth,  Tennyson, 
Browning.  Ward's  "English  Poets"  in 
four  volumes  is  specially  commended  as 
giving  a  critical   estimate  of  each  poet  with 

some    of   his    best    selections.     Of  the  great 
40 


poets  named  it  is  desirable  to  have  all  their 
works,  but  for  the  others  Ward's  will  suffice 
until  one's  taste  is  formed. 

A  capital  way  of  studying  poetry,  or  any 
literature  of  a  given  period,  is  to  connect  it 
with  some  great  religious  leader  and  study 
the  two  as  contemporaries,  as  John  Wyclif 
and  Chaucer,  or  John  Knox  and  Latimer 
with  Luther  and  Calvin  and  the  times  of 
Henry  VIIL  Take  Milton  and  Cromwell,  or 
Wesley  and  Edmund  Burke  and  Bishop  Joseph 
Butler,  and  the  study  of  the  contemporary 
history  will  define  the  conditions  of  thought 
and  life  and  so  help  to  interpret  the  age. 

To  know  that  in  Shakespeare's  time  there 
were  comparatively  few  able  to  read  will  help 
to  explain  the  great  hold  of  the  drama  then  as 
a  means  of  popular  instruction,  and  also  the 
popularity  of  the  ballad.  Whitefield's  youth- 
ful studies  of  Shakespeare  gave  him  great 
power  in  seeking  to  interpret  truth  to  the 
masses  who  were  accustomed  to  receive  their 
instruction  through  the  eye  or  the  ear  and 
from  the  stage.  Some  men  would  be  great- 
ly helped  by  Scott's  Waverley  Novels  in  their 
41 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

appeal  to  the  imagination,  as  they  clothe  given 
historical  events  in  very  flesh  and  blood. 
Such  a  work  as  Canon  Farrar's  **From 
Darkness  to  Dawn ' '  is  most  valuable  in  giv- 
ing a  vivid  and  accurate  study  of  the  times 
of  Nero,  as  Edersheim's  '*Life  and  Times 
of  Jesus"  does  of  the  Jewish  people  and 
their  customs  and  habits  of  thought  when  our 
Lord  dwelt  among  them. 

The  English  language  is  specially  rich  in 
the  literature  of  the  pulpit  which  has  done  so 
much  in  creating  a  standard  of  correct  style 
since  the  days  of  the  judicious  Hooker.  The 
Bampton  Lectures  belong  to  this  class,  as 
well  as  Liddon's  and  MacLaren's  Sermons 
and  the  works  of  Bruce,  Fairbairn,  and 
George  Adam  Smith,  to  say  nothing  of  those 
great  Englishmen  like  Lightfoot,  Westcott, 
Ellicott,  whose  sermons  and  essays  and  ad- 
dresses add  luster,  if  possible,  to  the  names 
of  these  great  interpreters  and  commentators. 
Stanley's  Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Church  and 
on  the  Eastern  Church  have  marked  with  a 
white  stone  the  day  in  which  the  student  be- 
gan to  read  them. 

43 


A  preacher's  bookshelves 

As  to  commentaries,  no  one  writer  is  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  treat  with  equal  ability  all  of 
the  books  of  the  Bible ;  so  that  commentaries 
on  the  whole  Bible  by  any  one  writer  are 
found  to  be  less  desirable  than  commenta- 
ries on  given  books  by  scholars  who  have 
specialized  on  them.  This  is  the  attractive 
feature  of  Bishop  ElHcott's  '*  Commentary 
on  the  Bible,"  in  which  that  great  biblical 
scholar  consents  to  supervise  the  work  of  a 
number  of  the  best  scholars,  suggesting 
changes  now  and  then  as  editor  of  the  whole, 
but  permitting  the  selected  commentator  on 
each  book  to  give  his  final  and  independent 
view  after  full  consideration  of  the  points 
raised.  As  a  result,  the  '*  Expositor"  pro- 
nounces this  high  estimate  on  the  work:  **No 
commentary  designed  for  English  readers 
comes  anywhere  near  it,  whether  for  spiritual 
insight  and  suggestiveness,  or  exact  scholar- 
ship, or  wide  erudition,  or  resolute  handling 
of  difficulties,  or  that  fearless  freedom  of  in- 
terpretation which  springs  from  an  absolute 
confidence    in    the    sanctity    and    power    of 

truth."     This  great  work  in  eight  volumes  is 
43 


SKILLED   LABOR    FOR   THE    MASTER 

sold  to  ministers  for  ten  dollars  and  fifty  cents, 
its  original  cost  being  forty-eight  dollars. 
While  based  on  the  Authorized  Version,  the 
able  scholars  are  abreast  of  all  the  questions 
raised  by  the  different  manuscripts.  Although 
Dr.  Schaff  was  the  American  editor  of  Lange's 
Commentary,  he  once  pronounced  it  "a  conti- 
nent of  mud — with  a  gold  mine  underneath." 
Many  a  day  has  been  lost  by  the  student  in 
looking  for  that  gold  mine  which  he  has 
never  found,  and  Lange  is  now  no  longer 
sought.  Better  far  is  a  single  commentary 
like  Broadus  on  Matthew,  in  showing  a 
preacher  how  to  study  and  interpret  the  word 
of  God,  than  twenty  such  books  as  Lange's. 
Whedon,  too,  called  to  his  help  a  number  of 
good  scholars  in  preparing  his  commentary; 
and  although  it  still  remains  incomplete,  it 
will  be  found  most  helpful. 

Stanley's  "Sinai  and  Palestine"  and 
Thompson's  '*  Land  and  Book  "  are  valuable, 
while  George  Adam  Smith's  "Historical  Ge- 
ography of  the  Holy  Land"  is  a  masterpiece. 
Hastings's  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  now 
being  published  by  Scribner  in  this  country 
44 


A  preacher's  bookshelves 

and  Clark  in  Edinburgh,  will  keep  the  fore- 
most place  among  a  preacher's  books  for 
many  years  to  come. 

In  suggesting  books  I  have  sought  to  com- 
mend only  those  which  personal  experience 
has  proved  to  be  valuable  ;  and  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  selection  has  been  made 
mostly  with  reference  to  those  preachers  who 
have  completed  the  Conference  course  of 
study,  and  without  reference  to  classical 
scholars.  Those  familiar  with  Greek  would 
find  such  a  work  as  Meyer's  *'  Commen- 
tary of  the  New  Testament"  most  help- 
ful, and  even  more  so  some  volumes  of  the 
*'  International  Critical  Commentary,"  like 
Sanday  on  Romans,  the  same  who  prepared 
the  Commentary  on  Romans  in  Ellicott's 
Commentary,  already  mentioned.  The  dif- 
ferent commentaries  on  the  Epistles  by  the 
great  exegetes  like  Ellicott,  Lightfoot,  and 
Westcott,  with  their  scholarly  essays  on  im- 
portant questions,  are  a  most  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  library,  but  knowledge  of  New 
Testament  Greek  is  essential  to  use  them  to 

best  advantage. 

45 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

If  the  mention  of  so  many  books  of  spe- 
cial value  embarrasses  any  Conference  grad- 
uate who  reads  this  paper,  I  would  say  it  is 
not  necessary  to  get  them  all  at  once.  If 
any  one  can  get  only  ten  new  volumes  this 
year,  I  would  suggest  to  those  who  already 
have  the  books  of  the  course  of  study  and 
the  books  of  reference  that  a  wise  investment 
would  be  to  secure  the  following:  Bruce^s 
*<Training  of  the  Twelve,''  Liddon's  **  Di- 
vinity of  Our  Lord,"  Bernard's  **  Progress 
of  Doctrine  in  the  New  Testament,"  Mathe- 
son's  **  Spiritual  Development  of  St.  Paul," 
Gore's  ''Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God," 
Van  Dyke's  **  Gospel  for  an  Age  of  Doubt," 
Phillips  Brooks's  '*  Lectures  on  Preaching," 
Allen's  **  Continuity  of  Christian  Thought," 
Fairbairn's  *' Place  of  Christ  in  Modern 
Theology,"  and  Fisher's  ''  Grounds  of  The- 
istic  and  Christian  Belief."  Ten  others 
might  be  added  almost  as  helpful.  But  any 
one  who  reads  these  ten  will  need  little  ad- 
ditional direction  of  his  attention  to  the  best 

books.     He  will  be  content  with  no  others. 
46 


GRISTLE  TURNED  TO  BONE. 


We  feel  we  are  nothing — for  all  is  Thou  and  in  Thee; 
We  feel  we  are  something— that  also  has  come  from  Thee; 
We  know  we  are  nothing — but  Thou  wilt  help  us  to  be. 

— Tennyson, 

The  power  which  pricked  nothingness  to  perfection. 

— Brownirig. 

That  low  man  seeks  a  little  thing  to  do, 

Sees  it  and  does  it: 
This  high  man,  with  a  great  thing  to  pursue, 

Dies  ere  he  knows  it. 

•—Broivnins^, 


IV 

GRISTLE  TURNED  TO  BONE. 

Austin  Phelps,  to  whom  thousands  be- 
sides his  immediate  students  owe  much  of 
suggestion  and  inspiration  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  as  well  as  in  their  **  still  hours," 
said:  '*A  thoroughly  trained  preacher  is  first 
a  man,  at  home  among  men;  he  is  then  a 
scholar,  at  home  in  libraries.  No  other  pro- 
fession equals  that  of  the  pulpit  in  its  power 
to  absorb  and  appropriate  to  its  own  uses  the 
world  of  real  life  in  the  present  and  the  world 
of  the  past  as  it  lives  in  books."  It  is  just 
that  power  of  absorption  and  appropriation 
that  makes  bone  out  of  gristle.  The  gristle 
not  hardened  into  bone  or  strengthened  into 
sinew  marks  the  child,  whether  physically  or 
intellectually,  regardless  of  years.  Child- 
hood is  not  a  thing  of  the  calendar,  but  of 
physical  and  intellectual  development.  Some 
men  are  children  at  fifty,  for  even  when  the 
body  has  assimilated  its  food  there  has  been 
4  49 


SKILLED    LABOR   FOR   THE    MASTER 

no  proper  mental  growth  or  strengthening  of 
moral  sinews.  No  mental  or  moral  convic- 
tions are  expected  of  them.  They  are  still 
in  the  gristle  stage,  *' children,  tossed  to  and 
fro  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doc- 
trine." One  knowing  their  mental  immatu- 
rity can  confidently  expect  the  ready  assump- 
tion of  any  doctrinal  position  according  to  the 
last  sermon  or  book  which  has  come  wdthin 
their  reach,  to  be  as  quickly  abandoned  for 
the  next  novelty.  Because  there  is  no  depth 
of  earth  the  seed  springs  up  quickly,  but 
brings  forth  no  fruit  to  perfection.  Theories 
with  them  are  but  children's  toys — they  serve 
to  interest  and  occupy  them  until  the  tinsel  is 
gone.  But  they  have  not  bone  enough  to 
bear  any  loads,  or  sinews  to  lift  any  burdens. 
They  are  apt  to  prove  a  sort  of  makeweight 
in  any  body  with  which  they  are  connected, 
casting  their  vote  with  the  last  speaker  or 
with  what  they  think  will  carry. 

When  Jeremiah  would  shirk  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  prophetic  office  by  saying,  "Ah, 
Lord  God  !  behold,  I  cannot  speak;  for  I  am 
a  child,"    the  Lord  put  forth  his  hand  and 
50 


GRISTLE  TURNED   TO  BONE 

touched  his  mouth  and  said:  **  Behold,  I 
have  put  my  words  in  thy  mouth:  see,  I 
have  this  day  set  thee  over  the  nations  and 
over  the  kingdoms,  to  pluck  up  and  to  break 
down,  and  to  destroy  and  to  overthrow;  to 
build,  and  to  plant. ' '  Heroic  work  that  which 
needed  sinew  and  bone.  The  work  of  the 
ministry  calls  for  men.  In  vain  does  Ezekiel 
prostrate  himself  on  the  ground.  God  can- 
not use  a  man  with  a  part  of  his  faculties  par- 
alyzed by  fear.  '*  Stand  upon  thy  feet,  and 
I  will  speak  with  thee."  The  Lord  had 
need  of  that  gifted  mind  with  its  imperial 
imagination,  its  penetrating  vision.  <*And 
the  Spirit  entered  into  me  when  he  spake 
unto  me,  and  set  me  upon  my  feet."  When 
the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  stood  before 
Agrippa,  he  told  anew  how  outside  the  gates 
of  Damascus  the  Lord  had  said  to  him, 
**Arise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet";  and  that 
he  got  his  message  from  God  while  standing 
on  his  feet  like  a  man,  and  he  had  never 
feared  the  face  of  man  from  that  hour.  He 
received  his  message  like  a  man,  his  mental 
powers  all  awake,  intellect  and  heart  respon- 
51 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

sive  to  the  divine  voice,  and  he  was  always 
able  to  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  was 
within  him.  While  there  was  in  him  the 
simplicity  of  faith  of  a  child,  there  was  the 
heroism  of  faith  of  a  man ;  and  that  made  the 
apostle.  "In  understanding,  be  ye  men." 
**Quit  you  like  men,  be  strong."  We  speak 
of  Paul  as  a  man  of  little  stature,  but  his 
friends  could  say  of  him  what  was  said  of  a 
gallant  general  who  was  disparaged  because 
he  weighed  only  ninety-six  pounds.  The  re- 
ply was:  *'Yes,  but  mark  you:  ninety  of  it 
is  backbone!  "  When  Paul  became  a  man, 
he  put  away  childish  things.  He  had  enough 
sinew  and  bone  to  bring  things  to  pass.  But 
Paul's  was  the  strength  not  alone  of  charac- 
ter, but  of  one  thoroughly  furnished  unto 
every  good  word  and  work. 

When  Gideon  was  choosing  his  army,  he 
thinned  out  both  the  cowards  and  the  rash, 
and  a  larger  proportion  of  the  latter  than  the 
former.  While  he  permitted  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  his  army  to  return  home  because 
they  were  fearful  and  trembling,  he  only  re- 
served three  hundred  out  of  the  remaining  ten 
S3 


GRISTLE  TURNED   TO   BONE 

thousand  (less  than  one  in  thirty),  because 
all  the  rest,  by  the  rash  way  in  which  they 
slaked  their  thirst,  showed  that  they  were  apt 
to  put  a  good  cause  in  peril  when  self-mas- 
tery was  most  needed.  Only  seasoned  men 
will  do  for  reserves.  Rashness  is  not  cour- 
age. It  may  even  be  cowardice,  as  it  surely 
is  weakness.  It  is  not  the  preacher  especial- 
ly who  boasts  about  his  willingness  to  suffer 
for  his  convictions  that  one  is  entirely  sure 
has  any.  Macbeth  was  braver  when  he  said, 
*'  I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man;  who 
dares  do  more,  is  none,"  than  when  he  al- 
lowed himself  to  do  the  unholy  murder  that 
his  soul  loathed,  because  he  was  chided  with 
being  a  coward.  Silence  at  times  is  braver 
than  speech.  Character  is  seen  better  in  re- 
pose than  in  action.  The  man  who  is  strong 
enough  to  use  the  brakes  on  himself  can  lead 
a  multitude  out  of  Egypt.  Moses  was  un- 
manly and  weak  only  when  he  lost  self-con- 
trol and  spake  unadvisedly  with  his  lips.  *  'Art 
thou  also  become  as  one  of  us?"  maybe  said 
of  many  a  pastor  when  his  flock  needed  a 
leader  and  not  a  partisan. 
53 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

Contact  with  men  and  books  both  are 
needed  in  this  development  of  convictions 
and  of  character.  In  one's  early  ministry 
the  preacher  is  saved  by  hope.  What  the 
people  hope  he  will  be  has  much  to  do  with 
the  kindness  and  forbearance  which  he  ex- 
periences at  a  time  of  immaturity  when  he 
preaches  mostly  what  he  has  absorbed.  The 
thoughtful  in  his  congregations  are  quick  to 
see  when  what  is  traditional  gives  place  to 
what  is  personal,  or  the  echo  becomes  a 
voice.  There  is  a  ring  about  his  utterance 
then  that  is  unmistakable.  His  preaching  is 
now  no  longer  simply  didactic.  His  words 
are  tremulous  with  his  own  sympathetic  ap- 
prehension of  the  noble  truths  which  he 
speaks.  Truth  has  embodied  itself  in  expe- 
rience and  in  character,  and  is  trebly  strong. 
Love  now  inspires  courage,  love  of  men  as 
well  as  love  of  the  truth.  He  preaches  now 
not  because  he  is  expected  to  do  so,  but  be- 
cause he  is  eager  to  give  to  others  a  message 
that  has  fed  his  own  soul.  His  preaching  is 
not  now  a  description  of  the  sun,  it  is  bring- 
ing its  very  fire  down  from  heaven.  His 
54 


GRISTLE   TURNED   TO    BONE 

knowledge  of  the  needs  of  perplexed  and 
wretched  souls  has  made  him  search  the 
Word  for  just  the  message  which  they  must 
have.  His  sympathy  with  them  has  almost 
made  their  sorrows  his  own,  and  he  hastens 
to  comfort  them  with  the  comfort  where- 
with he  himself  is  comforted  of  God.  His 
growing  strength  has  made  him  the  burden- 
bearer  of  many.  He  puts  his  will  power 
into  the  man  of  enfeebled  will  and  helps  to 
make  him  strong  to  overcome.  He  gives  of 
his  own  faith  to  the  unbelieving,  and  of  his 
hope  to  the  despondent.  He  is  courageous 
for  the  fearful  as  the  shepherd  whose  rod 
and  staff  comfort  the  timid  sheep  that  have 
heard  the  wolf's  cry.  The  shepherd  boy 
has  now  become  strong  enough  to  go  to  the 
mountains  after  the  lost  sheep,  and  his  sheep 
hear  his  voice  because  he  will  lay  down  his 
life  for  the  sheep.  No  "physician  of  the  old 
school,''  even  William  MacLure  himself,  can 
give  himself  to  others  as  does  a  pastor  after 
God's  own  heart. 

Phillips  Brooks  well  said,  **  True  growth 
in  learning  is  all  bound  up  with  growth  in 
55 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

character";  and,  "The  Christian  ministry  is 

the  largest  field  for  the  growth  of  a  soul  that 

the  world  affords."     The  soul  responsive  to 

human  needs  becomes  doubly  responsive  to 

divine    truth.      Every    sinful    and    sorrowing 

one    now    becomes    a    client   for   whom  the 

preacher  becomes  an  advocate;   and  how  he 

seeks  to  master  all  facts  and  truth  that  he 

may  help  to  save  a  soul !     As  a  thinker,  he  is 

afraid  of  no  truth  that  can  comfort  and  save. 

He  becomes   strong  in  his  search  both  for 

truth   and  for  men.     He  is  made  larger  by 

the   truth  v/hich    nourishes  him   even    more 

than  those  for  whom  he  sought  it.     Out  of 

his  own  ennobled  and  truthful  soul  he  now 

speaks  the  truth  as  he  has  found  it.     Men  see 

his  boldness,  and  know  that  he  has  been  with 

Jesus. 

Such  a  preacher  scorns  to  be  the  slave  of 

any  physical  appetite.     He  buffets  his  body 

and  keeps  it  under.     Self-indulgence  ill  befits 

him  who  is  called  to  endure  hardness  as  a 

good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.     If  the  trained 

athlete  keeps  his  body  at  its  best,  and  refuses 

those   narcotics   and  stimulants  which  make 
56 


GRISTLE  TURNED  TO  BONE 

weak  nerves  or  flabby  muscles,  much  more 
will  the  man  of  God  guard  against  all  that 
will  lessen  his  chances  of  success,  whether 
they  be  sins  of  the  table  or  self-indulgences  in 
the  study.  He  will  seek  not  only  to  prepare 
sermons,  but  to  prepare  himself  to  preach. 
Whatever  good  men  there  have  been  in  the 
ministry  whose  youthful  habits  of  self-indul- 
gence were  found  difficult  to  overcome,  in 
the  light  of  physiological  facts  well  estab- 
lished, they  could  not  now  wish  their  sons  in 
the  gospel  to  follow  their  example.  **  I  write 
unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are  strong." 
May  you  ever  remain  strong,  and  never  la- 
ment a  will  weakened  and  enslaved  by  phys- 
ical appetite  I 

A  wise  man  was  once  asked  how  he  suc- 
ceeded **in  surmounting  the  great  difficulties 
of  life . ' '  His  suggestive  reply  was :  '  *  By  the 
help  of  the  other  difficulties."  Difficulties 
are  like  foothills  that  must  first  be  climbed  if 
one  stands  upon  the  mountains.  That  preach- 
er is  little  able  to  minister  to  others  who  has 
never  had  trials  of  his  own.  Paul's  noblest 
utterances    are    found   in    his   letters   which 

57 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

were  written  from  a  Roman  prison.  The 
hero  of  a  hundred  battles  is  the  man  whose 
words  a  Timothy  longs  to  hear.  The  apostle 
who  has  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus  the 
Ephesians  will  heed  when  he  bids  them  take 
unto  themselves  the  whole  armor  of  God,  and 
having  done  all,  to  stand.  ''I  know  nothing 
of  our  pastor's  life,"  said  a  thoughtful  lay- 
man, **but  no  man  could  lift  us  up  to  such 
heights  unless  he  himself  had  climbed  up 
many  a  Hill  Difficulty."  And  he  was  right. 
The  strong  man  in  the  pulpit  had  gone 
through  the  Slough  of  Despond,  and  had 
climbed  the  Hill  Difficulty  on  his  knees.  Si- 
mon had  not  become  Cephas  without  being 
with  his  Lord  in  Gethsemane,  and  without 
many  nights  of  tears  because  he  had  once  de- 
nied him.  But  he  too  bitterly  hated  his  sins 
to  ever  recount  them  in  detail  in  the  pulpit. 
He  bore  in  his  soul  the  scars  of  his  conffict 
with  sin,  but  on  his  body  were  the  marks 
of  Jesus  whose  bond  slave  he  delighted  now 
to  be. 

The  preacher's  strength  comes  from  more 

than  wrestling  with  great  themes  or  with  the 
58 


GRISTLE  TURNED   TO  BONE 

difficulties  of  his  charge.  These  latter  are 
often  visible  foes.  His  mightiest  conflict  is 
with  unseen  foes,  **  against  the  rulers  of  the 
darkness  of  this  world."  Satan  haunts  our 
hours  of  prayer.  The  very  abundance  of  a 
preacher's  occupations  is  used  to  suggest 
something  imperative  that  may  call  him  ever 
from  his  knees.  **We  are  not  ignorant  con- 
cerning his  devices."  Luther  throws  his 
inkstand  at  Satan,  so  real  and  bitter  is  the 
conflict  when  the  exultant  cry  of  the  tempter 
is,  **Let  us  smite  the  Shepherd,  that  the 
sheep  may  be  scattered."  The  most  fiery 
of  the  devil's  darts  are  aimed  at  the  young 
preacher  as  the  gristle  is  turning  into  bone. 
Out  of  the  conflict  he  comes  a  better  man  or 
a  worse. 

My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten, 
Because  my  heart  is  pure. 

Such  a  man  is  the  guardian  of  public  morals, 
like  a  Hebrew  prophet.  <<  For  as  the  man  is, 
so  is  his  strength."  All  the  strength  in  his 
sermons  is  first  in  the  man.  The  man  must 
first  be  made  before  the  preacher  can  be. 

59 


THE  UNMAKING  OF  A  PREACHER. 


Lord,  many  times,  I  am  aweary  quite 
Of  mine  own  self,  my  sin,  my  vanity; 

Yet  be  not  Thou,  or  I  am  lost  outright, 
Weary  of  me. 

—Trench. 

Our  acts  our  angels  are,  or  good  or  ill, 
Our  fatal  shadows  that  walk  by  us  still. 

— Beaumont  and  Fletcher, 

Whatever  weakens  your  reason, 

Impairs  the  tenderness  of  your  conscience. 

Obscures  your  sense  of  God,  or  takes  off  the  relish  of 

spiritual  things; 
Whatever  increases  the  authority  of  your  body  over 

your  mind. 
That  thing  to  you,  is  sin. 

— Letter  of  Susanna  Wesley  to  John  -while  at  College. 


V 

THE  UNMAKING  OF  A  PREACHER. 

The  failure  to  make  a  preacher  may  not 
be  due  to  any  lack  of  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  subject  himself,  but  his  cooperation  is 
necessary  alike  in  the  making  and  the  un- 
making process.  After  all  his  efforts  the 
gristle  may  not  turn  into  bone,  owing  to  the 
lack  of  mental  and  even  moral  qualifications, 
possibly  of  physical  also.  Mr.  Wesley  ad- 
vised those  who  had  no  taste  for  reading,  or 
who  would  not  cultivate  such  a  taste,  to  re- 
turn to  their  trade.  Unless  the  man  had 
power  of  assimilation,  there  was  no  hope  of 
his  growth.  Unless  the  argument — clearness 
and  strength  of  statement — was  in  the  man, 
it  could  not  be  put  into  his  sermons.  An  ex- 
horter  he  might  be,  but  his  place  was  not 
with  preachers  who  were  able  to  expound 
and  rightly  divide  the  word  of  truth. 

The  sifting  process  of  an  undergraduate's 

experience    should    at    least    settle    whether 
63 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE    MASTER 

there  was  in  him  the  making  of  a  preacher. 
How  much  of  a  preacher  must  now  depend 
on  himself,  his  continued  growth  alike  in 
grace  and  in  knowledge  determining  whether 
he  will  wax  riper  and  stronger  in  the  minis- 
try. His  larger  grasp  of  truth  will  be  pro- 
moted by  the  very  love  of  souls  to  whom  lie 
would  fain  minister.  His  early  statements 
of  truth  will  be  found  incomplete.  The  half 
truths  which  he  then  grasped  will  seek  the 
other  half,  so  that  he  can  now  declare  the 
whole  counsel  of  God.  The  sermon  notes 
of  his  earlier  pulpit  preparation  can  no  lon- 
ger satisfy  him  any  more  than  the  clothes  of 
his  youth.  His  larger  mental  life  demands  a 
different  and  fuller  clothing  of  his  thought. 
People  look  for  maturer  views  of  truth  than 
when  he  began  his  ministry,  if  he  has  grown 
with  the  years.  If  neither  he  nor  they  can 
find  them  both  in  his  conversation  and 
preaching,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  either 
a  serious  mistake  has  been  made  in  advan- 
cing him  to  the  higher  office  of  the  ministry, 
or  that  the  unmaking  process  has  begun. 

Arrested  development,  whether  it  be  men- 
64 


THE  UNMAKING  OF  A  PREACHER 

tal  or  spiritual,  is  alike  a  disease  and  a  symp- 
tom. Bad  as  it  is  in  itself,  it  frequently  in- 
dicates a  moral  bankruptcy  which  affects  both 
mind  and  heart.  People  are  quick  to  distin- 
guish a  religious  vocabulary  from  a  religious 
experience.  Their  ears  can  tell  the  sound- 
ing brass  and  clanging  cymbal,  even  though 
a  man  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels.  He  may  have  had  a  genume  reli- 
gious experience,  a  very  vision  of  the  Lord 
by  the  way;  and  it  is  fitting  to  refer  to  it,  as 
Paul  did  to  his  at  the  most  critical  moments 
of  his  ministry.  But  such  an  experience 
should  be  more  than  a  memory;  it  should  be 
an  inspiration.  His  midday  vision  quickened 
Paul's  whole  intellectual  and  spiritual  life. 
His  brain  was  soonest  fired  through  his  sen- 
sibilities. He  was  never  so  mighty  a  thinker 
as  when  on  his  knees.  The  prayers  of  Paul 
contain  his  theology.  Language  seems  all 
too  inadequate  to  convey  the  great  truths 
upon  which  his  own  heart  has  fed  while  he 
prays  for  his  beloved  brethren  at  Ephesus  or 
Colosse.     An  experience  which  is  not  quick 

and  powerful  in  stimulating  a  preacher  to  do 
5  65 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

his  best  in  feeding  the  flock  of  Christ,  and  in 
winning  men  to  repentance,  has  lost  its  in- 
spiration even  as  a  memory.  Take  heed  to 
thyself,  and  to  the  doctrine,  is  a  fitting  apos- 
tolic injunction  given  to  the  same  son  in  the 
gospel  to  whom  Paul  said:  *'  Let  no  man  de- 
spise thy  youth ;  but  be  thou  an  example  to 
them  that  believe,  in  word,  in  manner  of 
life,  in  love,  rn  faith,  in  purity."  His  solici- 
tude reaches  to  the  intellectual  life  of  Tim- 
othy, as  he  not  only  urges  attention  to  read- 
ing, to  exhortation,  to  teaching,  but  *'Be 
diligent  in  these  things;  give  thyself  wholly 
to  them;  that  thy  progress  may  be  manifest 
to  all.  Continue  in  these  things;  for  in  so 
doing  thou  shalt  save  both  thyself  and  them 
that  hear  thee.'* 

The  respect  awakened  by  the  preacher  of 
the  gospel  has  much  to  do  with  his  influence 
in  saving  men.  Loss  of  self-respect  is  sure 
to  be  followed  by  loss  of  the  respect  of  oth- 
ers. Zechariah  describes  prophets  whose 
own  parents  shall  put  them  to  death  because 
they  spoke  lies  in   the   name  of   the  Lord. 

But  these  prophets  had   first  lost  their  own 
66 


THE  UNMAKING  OF  A  PREACHER 

self-respect,  being  **  ashamed  every  one  of 
his  vision  which  he  hath  prophesied,"  and 
some  even  saying,  *'I  am  no  prophet,  I  am 
a  husbandman;  for  man  taught  me  to  keep 
cattle  from  my  youth/'  When  the  prophet- 
ical office  is  brought  so  low,  it  has  no  teach- 
ing power.  The  prophet's  mantle  may  well 
be  laid  aside  when  it  has  been  dishonored. 
When  Paul  wrote  to  Titus,  *'  Let  no  man  de- 
spise thee,"  he  taught  that  a  ministry  that 
did  not  speak  with  authority  was  weak  in  its 
personal  elements.  It  lacked  sound  doctrine 
as  well  as  personal  example  and  force  in  the 
preacher.  Men  would  look  aside  or  beyond 
one  like  that  to  find  the  spokesman  of  God. 
At  best  his  voice  would  be  like  the  scribes' 
teaching,  unattended  by  that  personal  right- 
eousness which  gave  it  authority.  It  opened 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  neither  to  the  scribe 
nor  to  his  hearers.  It  lacked  certainty,  sym- 
pathy, hopefulness,  the  three  essential  ele- 
ments in  all  true  preaching.  None  of  these 
are  possible  to  a  man  without  a  constant,  per- 
sonal appropriation  of  the  truth  by  which  he 

ever  waxes  riper  and  stronger  in  his  ministry. 
67 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

It  was  said  of  Paul  that  he  increased  more  in 
strength  as  he  confounded  his  enemies,  prov- 
ing that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.  The  truth 
which  constantly  strengthens  the  preacher 
he  is  never  ashamed  to  preach,  knowing  it  to 
be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

The  unmaking  of  the  preacher  doubtless 
begins  with  the  unmaking  of  the  man;  for 
the  man  is  the  measure  of  the  preacher.  No 
small  man  ever  made  a  great  preacher;  and 
what  diminishes  a  man  in  his  intellectual 
grasp,  what  deteriorates  him  in  his  moral 
fiber,  or  what  abates  his  spiritual  fervor,  un- 
makes the  man.  There  are  diseases  of  the 
will  which  leave  men  nerveless  and  incapa- 
ble of  action.  There  are  diseases  of  person- 
ality which  unfit  men  for  leadership,  whether 
in  the  pulpit  or  out.  Indecision,  cowardice, 
rashness,  tell  of  such  a  weakened  personal- 
ity. A  man  may  speedily  empty  himself  by 
heedless  speech  until  there  is  nothing  left  in 
him  to  inspire  respect  or  confidence.  When 
the  man  is  unmade,  what  becomes  of  the 
preacher  ?  Thinkers  have  much  to  say 
these  days  of  **  degenerates, '*  of   men   who 

68 


THE  UNMAKING  OF  A  PREACHER 

simply  drift,  or  whose  degeneracy  takes  on 
the  dangerous  type  of  enmity  to  organized 
society  and  finds  its  representatives  (as  they 
are  now  seen  to  be)  in  the  anarchists  whose 
hands  fire  the  fatal  shot  or  thrust  the  assas- 
sin's dagger  at  rulers,  whether  of  kingdoms 
or  republics.  Europe  is  now  concerned 
about  the  degenerates  whose  avowed  pur- 
pose is  to  kill  every  crowned  head.  Reck- 
lessness of  speech  in  the  pulpit  sometimes 
shows  the  degenerate  whose  loss  of  balance 
makes  him  the  enemy  of  his  kind,  even 
though  he  pose  as  their  champion.  Paul 
makes  mention  of  such  peevish,  reckless 
speech  as  the  irresponsible  speech  of  mere 
childhood.  **  But  when  I  became  a  man,  I 
put  away  childish  things,"  the  peevish  spirit 
as  well  as  speech.  The  full-grown  man  is 
expected  to  have  good  manners  at  least,  and 
not  to  behave  himself  unseemly.  Ill  temper 
is  in  the  man  before  it  is  put  in  the  sermon, 
and  no  more  unmakes  the  man  than  it  un- 
makes the  preacher.  Speaking  the  truth  in 
love  is  quickly  distinguished  from  the  unjust 

condemnation  which,   like  David's  reply  to 
69 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

Nathan,  is  in  proportion  to  one's  own  ill  de- 
sert and  possible  sin. 

*' Pretense  to  virtue  is  the  one  vice  a  Cali- 
fornian  will  never  forgive,"  was  the  vigorous 
statement  of  President  Jordan  in  describing 
the  demand  which  even  bad  men  make  that 
a  man  shall  be  what  he  pretends  to  be.  Our 
Lord  said,  **  Whosoever  shall  do  and  teach 
others  the  least  of  these  commandments  shall 
be  called  great  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 
before  he  said,  **  Except  your  righteousness 
shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Sometimes  one 
neglects  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law, 
judgment,  mercy,  and  faith  in  tithing  the 
mint  and  anise  and  cummin.  John  Wesley 
when  an  old  man  said:  *' Nearly  fifty  years 
ago,  a  great  and  good  man,  Dr.  Potter  (then 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury),  gave  me  an  ad- 
vice for  which  ever  since  I  have  had  occa- 
sion to  bless  God.  He  said:  *  If  you  wish 
to  be  extensively  useful,  do  not  spend  your 
time    and    strength    in    contending   for    and 

against  such  things  as  are  of  a  disputable  na- 
70 


THE   UNMAKING   OF  A  PREACHER 

ture,  but  in  testifying  against  open  and  noto- 
rious vice,  and  in  promoting  real  spiritual  ho- 
liness.' "  It  took  a  thoroughly  sincere  man 
either  to  give  or  folio v/  such  wise  advice. 
Harder  than  any  of  God's  laws  are  the  laws 
we  make  for  ourselves,  as  witness  the  duel. 
Questions  of  casuistry  arise  most  frequently 
in  his  ministry  who  gives  undue  attention  to 
men's  customs  rather  than  God's  laws.  The 
mint,  anise,  and  cummin  should  never  out- 
weigh righteousness,  honesty,  truth,  faith, 
love.  One  may  dread  an  outraged  public 
opinion  even  more  than  the  displeasure  of 
God.  Schiller  wrote  a  sentence  that  has 
meaning  unfathomed  by  many  a  minister: 
**  The  truly  excellent  character  is  made  up 
of  strictness  toward  oneself  and  mildness  to- 
ward others."  It  was  the  lovelessness  no  less 
than  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees  which 
our  Lord  rebuked  when  he  said,  '*  Cast  out 
first  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye;  and  then 
thou  shalt  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote 
that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye."  A  **  nagging  " 
preacher    is   often     a    physical    degenerate. 

Happy  is  he  if  only  his  nervous  system  has 
71 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

suffered,  and  not  his  moral  nature.  In  either 
event,  a  ''  mutual  rest  "  is  a  desideratum  with 
both  preacher  and  people.  That  is  some- 
times the  meaning  of  "  a  pastor^s  vacation." 
This  may  be  consoling  to  the  minister  who 
has  never  been  granted  one  1 

Next  to  insincerity,  nothing  so  discounts 
one's  ministry  as  indolence.  *'  Idleness  is 
not  the  opposite  of  occupation,  but  of  the 
energetic  use  of  one's  faculties."  It  is  not 
that  the  minister  may  not  be  employed;  he 
may  be  triflingly  employed,  spending  more 
time  at  one  thing  or  place  than  is  necessary. 
He  may  lose  all  sense  of  proportion  in  the 
use  of  time  until  men  put  the  same  estimate 
upon  his  time  that  he  does,  and  he  is  cheap- 
ened into  being  the  man  of  most  leisure  in 
the  Church,  and  all  the  little  odd  jobs  fall  to 
him.  His  mornings  which  should  be  golden 
are  seen  to  be  leaden,  from  the  way  in  which 
he  spends  them  on  the  street.  Satan  is  in  no 
danger  of  being  struck  by  his  inkstand,  for 
he  does  much  of  his  writing  in  some  one 
else's  office.     His  work,  if  you  may  call  it  so, 

is  along  the  lines  of  least  resistance.     Surely 

72 


THE  UNMAKING  OF  A  PREACHER 

the  hinges  of  his  study  door  are  stubborn 
with  rust.  What  he  has  been  ordained  to  do, 
*'to  teach  and  premonish,  to  feed  and  pro- 
vide for  the  Lord's  family,"  he  has  not  time 
to  do,  because  of  wasted  energy  in  doing 
countless  nothings.  Such  a  preacher,  whose 
energy  went  anywhere  but  into  his  sermons, 
and  who  had  a  weakness  for  meeting  every 
passenger  train  (in  order  that  he  might  mail 
his  letters  at  the  last  moment),  once  said  in 
the  pulpit,  **  What  more  can  I  do  than  I  am 
doing?  "  when  a  wise  layman  said  to  another: 
*' Nothing,  unless  you  try  to  meet  every 
freight  train,  too."  The  busy  man  was  still 
an  idler,  for  he  had  not  learned  the  energetic 
use  of  his  faculties  for  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry. He  was  using  the  same  energy  as  that 
employed  by  the  insurance  agent  or  the  car- 
penter, that  of  the  hands  and  feet,  and  the 
flock  that  he  was  appointed  to  feed  went 
hungry.  What  though  the  fold  be  mended 
and  painted,  even  the  ox  or  ass  would  not 
long  know  or  frequent  the  master's  crib  that 
was  habitually  short  on  corn. 

What  now  if  to  recover  his  lost  and  scat- 
73 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

tered  sheep  the  preacher  become  the  clown? 
Then  the  unmaking  process  is  about  finished. 
Lack  of  seriousness  in  the  pulpit  is  fatal  to 
character,  whether  in  preacher  or  hearer. 
The  curse  of  the  playhouse  was  found  here 
in  administering  simply  to  love  of  amuse- 
ment, and  so  disturbing  fatally  the  serious 
views  of  life  and  its  obligations  in  those  who 
constantly  frequented  it.  The  pulpit  of  any 
age  has  proved  worthy  of  contempt  when  it 
rivaled  with  its  sensational  themes  the  bill- 
boards of  the  theater,  and  the  preacher  be- 
came an  actor  whose  ambition  was  to  court 
a  grin.  It  is  always  a  confession  of  the  fail- 
ure of  the  pulpit  to  furnish  wholesome  food 
for  the  flock  when  it  competes  with  the  min- 
strel in  trying  to  amuse.  **  Excessive  cere- 
monialism and  vulgar  sensationalism  ^'  are 
the  two  deadly  foes  of  the  modern  pulpit  and 
of  the  religion  of  our  day,  and  both  are  the 
unmaking  of  the  preacher.  Austin  Phelps 
pronounced  the  pulpit  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  as  on  the  whole  about  the 
weakest  in  the  land,  despite  the  culture  and 
social  position  of  much  of  the  membership  of 
74 


THE   UNMAKING  OF  A  PREACHER 

that  Church.  A  tendency  to  ceremonialism 
had  silenced  the  pulpit,  and  the  preacher  had 
become  a  priest.  But  what  of  the  preacher 
who,  conscious  of  his  inability  to  feed  the 
flock,  consents  simply  to  entertain  them? 
He  shows  them  pictures  when  he  should  give 
them  food.  They  ask  for  bread,  and  he 
gives  them  a  stone.  The  integrity  of  the 
pulpit  cannot  survive  the  integrity  of  the  man 
in  the  pulpit. 

Low  ideals,  being  contented  with  some- 
thing less  than  the  best,  these  are  the  bane  of 
the  preacher.  Even  though  his  hearers  are 
satisfied  with  him  and  '*  wish  his  return,"  he 
can  never  bring  out  the  best  in  them  until  he 
gives  them  the  best  in  himself.  And  that 
best  is  not  possible  so  long  as  his  ideals  are 
low  either  for  himself  or  them.  Because  our 
Lord  could  fix  no  high  ideal  in  the  mind  and 
heart  of  Judas,  the  man  of  Kerioth,  he  could  not 
save  him  or  others  through  him .  Even  though 
he  had  witnessed  the  miracles  whether  of 
healing  the  sick  or  withering  the  condemned 
fig  tree,  although  he  had  heard  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  and  had  been  warned  to  beware 
75 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

of  attempting  to   serve   God   and   mammon, 

three   years   of  sacred   association    failed   to 

change  his   ideals,  and    he    always   appears 

last  in  the  list  of  the  apostles.      Censorious 

and  covetous    as  a    man,   he    uses    his   very 

apostleship  to  show  himself  the  traitor  that  he 

was  both  to  himself   and  to  his  Lord.     But 

the  man  fell  before  the  apostle. 
76 


DEAD  RECKONING. 


I  say  that  acknowledgment  of  God  in  Christ, 
Accepted  by  thy  reason,  solves  for  thee 
All  questions  in  the  earth  and  out  of  it. 

— Browning. 

We  are  the  mariners,  and  God  the  sea; 
And  though  we  make  false  reckonings,  and  run 
Wide  of  a  righteous  course,  and  are  undone. 

Out  of  His  deeps  of  love  we  cannot  be. 

—Alice  Cary. 


VI 

DEAD  RECKONING. 
It  is  often  a  grave  look  that  is  seen  upon 
the  face  of  the  captain  when  he  has  to  calculate 
his  ship's  place  at  sea  independently  of  ob- 
servations of  the  heavenly  bodies.   Neither  sun 
nor  stars  are  visible,  owing  to  clouds  or  fog, 
and  all  becomes  guesswork.     The  variations 
of  the  compass  are  daily  noted,  and  while  he 
can   count  the   revolutions    of   the    propeller 
and  can  tell  the  rate  of  the  ship's  motion,  he 
knows  too  well  the    possible    errors    in   her 
course,    due    to    hidden    currents    and    other 
causes,  for  him  to  make  a  satisfactory  reck- 
oning.      The  sailor  therefore  calls  it  simply 
**dead  reckoning,"  when  he  cannot  navigate 
by  the  help  of  the  heavenly  bodies.     If  he  is 
far   out    at   sea,    he    can  endure   such   dead 
reckoning  for  a  day  or  two,  because  he  has 
ample  sea  room;   but  let  him  be  near  some 
treacherous  coast,  or  some  dangerous  shoal, 
and  he  prays  for  a  glimpse  of  the  sun's  face 
at  noon,   or  of  some  friendly  star  at  night.. 
79 


SKILLED    LABOR    FOR    THE    MASTER 

By  these  fixed  objects  he  can  determine  his 
latitude.  The  altitude  of  the  sun  when  ob- 
served on  the  meridian  is  most  important  in 
determining  the  ship's  position  on  the  deep. 
Powerful  currents  have  sometimes  borne  a 
ship  out  of  her  course  as  much  as  twentj^-five 
miles  in  six  hours,  as  was  found  to  be  the 
case  once  with  our  good  ship  Danube  off  the 
dangerous  coast  of  Brazil,  an  experience  un- 
paralleled in  the  life  of  her  able  navigator, 
the  commodore  of  the  Royal  Mail  fleet. 
Happily  fresh  observations  were  taken  in 
time  to  correct  her  course.  Not  so,  how- 
ever, with  the  Drummond  Caste  that  went 
ashore  at  Ushant  a  few  years  ago,  when 
nearly  all  lives  were  lost.  *'Dead  reckon- 
ing," too,  cost  the  Paris  her  rocky  bed  upon 
the  Manacles  and  her  captain  his  commis- 
sion. The  price  of  safety  is  eternal  vigilance 
by  the  man  in  the  *' lookout"  and  frequent 
observations  by  the  captain  with  his  sextant. 
Better  a  day  late  in  port,  if  it  be  spent  in 
trying  to  **  pick  up  the  ship's  true  course," 
than  to  run  her  by  **  dead  reckoning,"  mere 

guessing  at  her  position,  in  the  hope  of  some- 
80 


DEAD    RECKONING 

how  reaching  her  desired  haven  at  the   ex- 
pected time. 

That  was  a  wise  definition  of  knowledge 
attributed  to  Confucius;  "Knowledge  is 
when  you  know  a  thing  to  hold  that  you 
know  it;  and  when  you  do  not  know  a  thing 
to  allow  that  you  do  not  know  it."  To  know 
that  we  do  not  know  is  as  important  at  times 
as  to  know  that  we  do  know.  To  define 
clearly  is  to  think  clearly.  Man  finds  a  safe- 
guard in  the  belief  that  he  will  not  be  left  in 
permanent  intellectual  confusion,  whether  he 
believes  simply  in  nature  or  in  God.  The 
veriest  skeptic  pays  an  unconscious  tribute  to 
the  unknown  God  when  he  looks  for  siirns 
of  intelligence  in  all  his  works.  He  turns 
from  any  path  where  there  are  no  footprints 
of  intelligence.  It  has  been  wisely  said  that 
**  without  a  reliable  universe  no  moral  char- 
acter could  grow.  A  fickle  world  admits 
only  of  a  lawless  race,  to  whom  foresight  is 
denied  and  whose  wisdom  is  as  likely  to  go 
astray  as  their  folly.  All  human  habits  are 
formed  by  a  mutual  understanding  between 

man  and  nature."     This  is  God's  clock  that 
6  8i 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

keeps  good  time,  his  bow  in  the  firmament 
with  its  reassuring  promise:  '*  while  the 
earth  remaineth,  seedtime  and  harvest,  and 
cold  and  heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and 
day  and  night  shall  not  cease."  The  farmer 
and  the  sailor  can  set  their  watches  by  the 
stars  and  know  that  '*  God  is  in  his  heaven, 
all's  well  with  the  world."  This  sends  them 
to  the  fields  and  across  the  seas,  and  makes 
agriculture  and  commerce  possible.  What 
we  call  uniformity  of  nature  is  God's  warn- 
ing against  **  dead  reckoning."  What  men 
call  faith  is  reason  leaning  on  God.  Faith 
in  the  unchangeableness  of  God  calls  forth 
the  fullest  energy  and  develops  the  noblest 
character  in  man.  Faith  triumphantly  as- 
serts, *'For  I  know  whom  I  have  believed, 
and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep 
that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him 
against  that  day." 

While  the  three  essential  things  in  the  pul- 
pit are  certainty,  sympathy,  and  hopefulness, 
the  greatest  of  these  is  certainty.  **  For  if 
the  trumpet  give   an  uncertain    sound,   who 

shall    prepare    himself    for    war?"      So    far 
82 


DEAD    RECKONING 

from  there  being  comfort  in  uncertainty,  ''  if 
in  this  Hfe  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ  we 
are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  As  there  is 
no  mental  rest  but  in  fact,  so  there  is  no 
spiritual  rest  but  in  truth.  If  Christ  be  not 
risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain,  and  your 
faith  is  also  vain.  No  man  can  think  steadily 
and  fruitfully  who  does  not  begin  with  fixed, 
ascertainable  truth.  There  must  be  a  sea 
level  from  which  to  measure  the  mountain 
top.  Truth  is  not  merely  relative  and  pro- 
visional, but  absolute  and  final.  Our  Lord 
has  promised  it:  ''Ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  If  ye 
know  these  things,  blessed  are  ye  if  ye  shall 
do  them.  The  pulpit  and  a  divine  revelation 
stand  or  fall  together.  If  God  has  never 
spoken,  men  should  keep  silent.  If  God  has 
spoken,  then  messages  from  him  are  what 
man  has  to  deliver,  and  cannot  but  deliver. 
Holy  men  of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved, 
impelled,  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  were 
positive,  because  they  knew  their  message 
to  be  from  God.     "  The  word  of  the  Lord 

came  unto   me,   saying,"   was  what  startled 

83 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

kings  and  changed  the  face  of  national  life 
and  belief.  The  history  of  the  pulpit  is  the 
history  of  the  Church.  If  the  pulpit  speaks 
with  the  authority  of  a  conscious  message 
and  mission  from  God,  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  come  unto  you,  and  never  until  then.  Let 
the  pulpit  be  weak  and  uncertain  and  hesita- 
ting, and  the  Church  is  no  longer  a  positive 
force.  It  lacks  unity  because  the  pulpit  lacks 
personality.  The  symbol  of  the  unit  and  the 
person  is  the  same — I.  Invertebrate  theology 
gives  an  invertebrate  in  the  pulpit.  The  true 
preacher  is  a  dogmatic  theologian,  even  if  he 
has  never  heard  of  such  a  person.  He  re- 
ceives and  teaches  a  doctrine  based  on  au- 
thority.     **  Thus  saith  the  Lord." 

The  secret  of  the  power  of  such  men  as 
Athanasius  and  Augustine  is  found  just 
here.  At  times  it  was  ''  Athanasius  against 
the  world."  Had  it  not  been,  the  world 
would  never  have  swung  around  to  him,  like 
a  mighty  ship  to  its  anchor.  Augustine's 
character  was  summed  up  in  its  creed:  **A 
whole  Christ  for  my  salvation ;  a  whole  Bible 

for  my  staff ;  a  whole  Church  for  my  f ellow- 
84 


DEAD   RECKONING 


ship;    and    a  whole   world  for   my  parish." 
Such  a  man  could  not  do  anything  by  halves. 
Let  men  complain  that  Christianity  was  de- 
stroying Rome,  and  the  *' Holy  City"  must 
soon  lose  its  glory  forever.     He  rephes  with 
his   ''City   of   God,"    which  tells    of  a   city 
which  hath  foundations  that  are  imperishable, 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.     Let  men 
who  are  heartsick  over  the  decaying  glories 
of  the  perishable  find  refuge  in  the  imperish- 
able.    However  his  arguments  may  be  col- 
ored by  the  governmental  ideas  with  which 
he  was  most  f  amihar  in  the  imperiaHsm  of  his 
time,  his  influence  for  fifteen  hundred  years 
has   been   due   to   the  fact  that  he  believed 
something.       The    voice    that    called    him, 
**  Take    and    read,"    and    turned    him    to    a 
friend  who  put  Paul's  Epistles  in  his  hands, 
shaped  his  life   and  that  of  countless  thou- 
sands through   him,   because  of  his  positive 
beliefs.     Nor  was  there  any  '*  dead  reckon- 
ing "  with  Wyclif ,  with  Luther,  with  Wesley. 
They  beheved  that  the  testimony  of  the  Lord 
is  sure,  and  therefore  men  believed  in  them. 
No  wonder   Lord    Salisbury    spoke   of   Mr. 


85 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

Gladstone  as  "that  eminent  Christian,"  de- 
spite their  different  pohtical  creeds.  That 
great  statesman  had  no  question  as  to  the 
fundamental  fact  that  God,  who  had  at  sun- 
dry times  and  in  divers  manners  spoken  unto 
the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  had  in  these  last 
days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son:  "All  I 
write,  and  all  I  think,  and  all  I  hope,  is  based 
upon  the  divinity  of  our  Lord,  the  one  cen- 
tral hope  of  our  poor,  wayward  race. ' '  None 
of  these  were  men  that  you  could  pass  your 
hand  through.  They  stood  for  something, 
and  their  lengthened  shadows  will  tell  yet 
coming  generations  where  they  stood  and  of 
what  substance  they  were  made. 

This  positiveness  of  belief  and  teaching 
was  necessary  in  the  apostles,  and  in  all 
who  followed  them  as  they  followed  Christ. 
The  beloved  disciple  was  a  very  old  man 
when  he  wrote  his  Gospel,  but  how  dis- 
tinct his  testimony  as  to  the  very  hour, 
"the  tenth  hour"  of  the  day,  when  he  first 
talked  with  his  Lord!  "  This  is  the  disciple 
which  beareth  witness   of  these  things,  and 

wrote  these  things;    and  we   know   that  his 
86 


DEAD   RECKONING 

witness  is  true."  It  is  this  which  makes  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Je- 
sus Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner 
stone.  This  mine  of  truth  is  inexhaustible. 
The  man  who  speaks  has  first  to  hear.  If  he 
really  desires  it,  the  Spirit  of  truth  will  guide 
him  into  all  truth.  But  only  those  shall 
know  who  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord. 
Mere  speculation  starves  both  preacher  and 
hearer,  and  it  is  because  men  do  not  believe 
the  witness  that  God  hath  borne  concerning 
his  Son:  ''This  is  my  beloved  Son;  hear 
ye  him."  The  king  is  one  who  *'  kens  "  as 
well  as  one  who  ''  can."  His  knowledge  is 
his  power.  This  makes  Christ's  words  so 
weighty  and  imperishable.  Heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away,  but  not  one  jot  or  tit- 
tle of  his  words  shall  fall.  It  is  the  dogma- 
tism of  Jesus  that  has  won  a  world  of  believ- 
ers. His  is  the  last  word  on  every  subject 
on  which  he  spake.  It  is  the  word  of  abso- 
lute, transparent  truthfulness  from  him  who 
was  and  is  the  Truth.  '*  If  it  were  not  so,  I 
would  have  told  you."  With  such  a  teacher 
sent  from  God,  it  is  not  strange  to  hear  an 
87 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

apostle  say:  "  For  we  know  that  if  the  earth- 
ly house  of  our  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we 
have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  How 
natural  to  hear  such  a  man  say,  *'  Give  me 
leave  to  speak  unto  the  people,  I  beseech 
thee."     He  had  a  message  from  God. 

Shall  the  lawyer  have  legal  knowledge  and 
the  physician  medical  knowledge,  and  the 
minister  not  have  biblical  knowledge  ?  '  *  The 
priest's  lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and  the 
people  should  seek  the  law  at  his  mouth." 
But  how  shall  he  speak  unless  he  hear? 
'*  The  speech  of  the  lips  tendeth  to  penury." 
How  poverty-stricken  that  man  who  attempts 
to  speak  for  God  without  first  hearing  a  mes- 
sage from  God !  Even  worse  is  he  who 
seeks  to  speak  for  God  what  God  hath  not 
spoken  at  all.  It  was  **  the  man  of  God  dis- 
obedient to  the  word  of  God  "  whom  Keble 
recalls  to  us  from  his  lonely  grave,  after  the 
lion  met  him  by  the  way: 

Alas,  my  brother,  round  thy  tomb 
In  sorrow  kneeling,  and  in  fear, 

We  read  the  pastor's  doom 
Who  speaks  and  will  not  hear. 


DEAD   RECKONING 

It  has  been  said  that  more  harm  is  done  in 
the  world  by  weak  men  than  by  wicked  men. 
This  is  doubtless  true  of  the  pulpit.  One  of 
the  mysteries  of  grace  is  that  God  has  often 
used  the  truth  when  spoken  by  the  lips  of 
men  whose  lives  were  disobedient  to  God,  as 
was  the  life  of  the  prophet  whose  mes- 
sage against  the  altar  of  Jeroboam  was  ful- 
filled even  though  the  prophet  himself  was 
slain.  A  bad  man  in  the  hope  of  his  own 
safety  may  hold  the  helm  steady  until  the 
imperiled  lives  are  saved.  A  better  man 
might  hold  the  helm  with  so  feeble  a  grasp  as 
to  turn  the  burning  vessel  toward  the  rocks  in 
place  of  the  harbor;  and  he  surely  will,  if  he 
does  not  know  the  harbor.  It  is  the  pilot's 
business  to  know  the  harbor — what  if  he  be 
uncertain  as  to  whether  there  is  one?  It  is 
the  man  who  knows  that  we  summon  to  the 
bedside  of  our  sick.  It  is  because  of  this 
profession  of  knowledge  that  he  is  respected 
and  trusted  as  the  good  physician.  Let  it 
appear  that  he  is  a  mere  charlatan  and  quack, 
and  how  quickly  will  he  be  held  responsible ! 

Let  the  man  called  to  preach  commend  him- 
89 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

self  as  a  minister  of  God  "in  pureness,  in 
knowledge,  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  love  un- 
feigned, in  the  word  of  truth,  in  the  power 
of  God." 

Paul's  best  preaching,  like  his  theology, 
was  shaped  on  his  knees.  The  things  that 
are  hard  to  be  understood  in  the  writings  of 
our  beloved  brother  Paul  are  not  his  prayers. 
Here  we  are  caught  up  to  the  third  heavens 
as  the  apostle  brings  his  difficulties  with  men 
and  devils,  his  doubts  and  fears,  to  God. 
We  can  almost  see  the  Holy  Spirit  leading 
men  into  the  truth  as  they  cast  themselves 
upon  his  guidance  and  follow  where  he  leads. 
It  seemed  a  dark  hour  in  the  history  of  the 
great  Westminster  Assembly  when  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Catechism  reported  that  they 
had  failed  to  agree  on  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  the  question,  *' What  is  God?"  In  their 
perplexity  the  Assembly  called  upon  Gilles- 
pie, the  youngest  member,  to  lead  them  in 
prayer  for  the  special  aid  of  the  Divine 
Spirit.  He  began  his  prayer  with  the  words, 
*'0  God,  who  art  a  Spirit,  infinite,  eternal, 

unchangeable  in  thy  being,  wisdom,  power, 
90 


DEAD  RECKONING 

holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth";  and 
as  his  reverent  spirit  talked  with  God,  the 
great  assembly  of  divines  instinctively  felt 
that  the  prayer  was  answered.  Happy  is  that 
people  whose  pastor's  theology  is  in  his 
prayers,  and  who  by  the  path  of  prayer  leads 
them  into  the  hoHest  of  all. 

This  entrance  into  the  holy  of  holies  is  the 
great  mission  of  the  pastor,  as  it  was  of  the 
priest.     The  night  before  that  awful  event  he 
spent  the  hours  in  hearing  or  expounding  the 
word  of  God.     On  his  breastplate,  as  he  en- 
tered into  the   immediate  presence  of   God, 
were    the   names    of   his  people,  the    twelve 
tribes  for  whom   he  went  to  make  interces- 
sion.    Ten  times   during  the  prayers  of  the 
high  priest  on  this  great  day  of  atonement  the 
people   Hstened   with    bated    breath   as    they 
heard  him  pronounce  the  ''  ineffable  Name  " 
— ^JEHOVAH — the    name    none    other   ever 
dared  to  speak.     It  was  when  the  high  priest 
was  thus  at  prayer  with  God  that  he  realized, 
and  his  people  with  him,  the  great  verities  of 
religion.     Here,  too,  all  doubts  are  resolved 
as  the  pastor  and  preacher  now  speaks  with 
91 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

the  confidence  born  of  personal  communion 
with  God  in  Christ.  He  goes  forth  from 
such  hours  with  a  mental  elevation  that 
causes  his  very  face  to  shine.  There  is  no 
miserable  *'dead  reckoning"  now  either  in 
his  own  experience  or  in  his  preaching,  since 
Christ  dwells  in  his  heart  by  faith  and  he  be- 
comes rooted  and  grounded  in  love.  The 
peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding 
shall  keef  (  as  a  sentinel)  your  hearts  and  minds 
in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  and  of  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  We  know  that 
when  Christ  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like 
him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  Now  I 
know  in  part;   but  then  shall  I  know  even  as 

also  I  am  known.      That  anchor  holds. 
93 


THE  SACRIFICE  OF  THE  WILL. 


strike  for  the  King  and  die!  and  if  thou  diest, 
The  King  is  King  and  ever  wills  the  highest. 

-^Tennyson. 

Blest  be  Thy  dew  and  blest  Thy  frost, 

And  happy  I  to  be  so  crost, 

And  cured  by  crosses  at  Thy  cost. 

For  as  Thy  hand  the  weather  steers, 
So  thrive  I  best  'twixt  joys  and  tears, 
And  all  the  year  have  some  green  ears. 

— Henry  Vaughan. 


VII 

THE  SACRIFICE  OF  THE  WILL. 

That  is  a  quaint  description  of  Abram  and 
his  companions  which  says,  "  They  zvenl  forth 
to  g-o  into  the  land  of  Canaan;  and  into  the 
land  of  Canaan  they  came.^'  Of  course  they 
did;  because  they  we7i^  forth  to  g-o.  They 
were  men  of  purpose,  and  a  purpose  brings 
a  man  where  he  goes  forth  to  go.  "A  pur- 
pose is  a  companion."  It  is  a  man's  other 
self.  Nay,  it  is  a  man's  true  self.  It  organ- 
izes all  his  powers,  as  well  as  regulates  all  his 
desires.  The  purpose  is  the  man.  It  gives 
clearness  to  his  mind,  warmth  to  his  heart, 
strength  to  his  will.  He  goes  forth  to  go,  and 
he  goes.  The  man  who  never  goes  forth  to 
go  never  reaches  there  or  anywhere  else.  He 
never  travels  anywhere;  he  simply  scrawls. 
His  mind  is  not  large  enough  for  his  body. 
He  is  like  the  man  who  said  that  he  had  no 
difficulty  in  making  up  his  mind;  his  real 
difficulty  was  in  making  up  his  body.  The 
fact  was  he  did  not  have  much  of  a  mind  to 
95 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

make  up,  not  enough  in  fact  to  reach  all  parts 
of  his  body  and  call  all  into  action. 

The  normal  man  is  two-thirds  will  and  one- 
third  intellect.  However  well  constructed  the 
shell  the  charge  of  powder  must  be  great 
enough  to  carry  it,  or  it  is  useless.  Abnor- 
mal men,  like  Hamlet  or  Coleridge,  have  not 
will  power  enough  to  run  their  minds — to 
**make  up  their  minds."  With  all  his  splen- 
did intellectual  powers,  Coleridge  bewailed 
his  inability  to  do  things.  He  walked  on 
both  sides  of  the  street  at  once,  because  he 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  on  which  side 
to  walk.  The  engine  was  too  large  for  its 
boiler.  Of  what  avail  are  large  wheels  if  you 
have  too  small  a  steam  chest?  The  piston 
rod  may  be  ever  so  strong  and  polished,  but 
you  have  not  force  enough  to  drive  it.  Bet- 
ter a  smaller  engine,  that  can  make  steam 
and  go  somewhere  and  take  something  along 
with  it,  than  the  largest  mogul,  spick  and 
span  under  the  careful  polishing  of  the  driv- 
er, yet  standing  helpless  and  motionless  on 
the    track.      It  is   only  in   the  way  of  some 

other.     It  has  a  big  head,  but  a  small  heart. 
96 


THE   SACRIFICE   OF  THE  WILL 

It  looks  wise,  but  it  cannot  even  walk  yet. 
It  has  everything  that  money  can  buy  but  ca- 
pacity. It  lacks  will  power.  So  in  man,  will 
is  the  very  nerve  of  personality,  as  well  as  its 
vertebral  column.  Without  it  he  is  a  mol- 
lusk,  not  a  man. 

A  great  man  is  a  man  of  great  will  power. 
An  enfeebled  will  is  the  sign  of  mental  decay. 
The  feeble-minded  are  the  feeble -willed. 
The  method  of  treatm.ent  is  to  reach  the  la- 
tent mental  powers  through  the  awakened 
desires,  the  aroused  will.  Without  attention, 
the  will  holding  the  mind  to  its  work,  nothing 
can  be  done.  The  purposeless  always  yield 
to  the  men  of  purpose.  The  man  of  purpose 
has  the  right  of  way.  He  has  come  forth  to 
go  somewhere,  and  he  claims  the  main  track, 
and  even  reaches  the  next  station  while  the 
rest  are  making  up  their  minds.  Nay,  often 
he  has  to  have  will  power  enough  for  a  fam- 
ily, a  community,  a  nation.  Carlyle  well 
says:  '*  The  history  of  the  world  is  the  bi- 
ographies of  its  great  men . "  They  achieved 
something  because  they  started  out  to  achieve 

something.     They  were  the  integers  which, 

7  97 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

being  placed  before  ciphers,  made  tens, 
hundreds,  thousands,  millions.  How  many 
'* empties"  a  mighty  locomotive  engine  can 
pull!  The  chief  trouble  is  to  keep  them  on 
the  track  because  they  are  '*  empties."  Alas, 
how  often  it  is  that  the  *' empties"  not  only 
make  most  of  the  noise,  but  cause  the  wreck! 
The  **  sleeping  sentinel"  admits  the  foe.  No 
wonder  that  in  time  of  war  to  sleep  at  one's 
post  is  punishable  with  death.  Nature  de- 
nies beauty  to  every  slothful  animal.  The 
human  sloth  is  the  most  monstrous  of  all. 
By  too  great  self-indulgence  the  will  loses 
its  spring.  It  was  because  Mary  Magdalene 
went  to  the  sepulcher  while  it  was  '*yet 
dark"  that  she  first  saw  her  Lord  and  be- 
came his  messenger  to  the  apostles. 

It  takes  a  caldron  as  great  as  the  Caribbean 
Sea  to  heat  a  Gulf  Stream  that  can  reach  to 
Europe,  and  change  its  climate  and  deter- 
mine its  civilization.  This  mighty  **  river  in 
the  sea"  plows  its  way  through  opposing 
currents,  icebergs,  storms,  because  of  the 
mighty  force  that  is  back  of  it.     Moses  could 

never  have  become  **a  king  in  Jeshurun"  if 

98 


THE   SACRIFICE   OF  THE  WILL 

he  had  not  had  this  kingly  quahty,  growing 
stronger  in  the  face  of  the  indifference,  criti- 
cism, opposition,  even  rebellion  of  millions 
of  slaves,  hungry  every  day  for  the  leeks  and 
garlics  of  the  fertile  Delta  of  Egypt.  Paul, 
too,  illustrates  Maudsley's  striking  saying: 
**The  will  is  the  highest  force  which  nature 
has  yet  developed — the  last  consummate  blos- 
som of  all  her  marvelous  works."  The  love 
of  Christ  which  constrained  him  made  him  an 
apostle  to  all  the  world.  His  aggressiveness 
was  the  propagation  of  character,  the  char- 
acter which  came  from  a  life  hid  with  Christ 
in  God.  Buddhism  extinguishes  character; 
Christianity  develops  it.  What  is  character 
but  educated  will?  It  is  the  man  who  has 
himself  so  well  in  hand  that  he  can  say, 
*'This  one  thing  I  do,"  who  does  it.  To 
destroy  the  will  is  to  destroy  the  man;  to 
strengthen  it,  and  offer  it  in  holy  sacrifice,  is 
to  save  the  man.  Self-surrender  is  salvation 
alike  for  the  minister  and  the  man.  **  He 
that  would  save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  but  he 
that  would  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find 

it."     But  he  must  have  a  life  to  lose.     The 
99 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

man  who  is  always  singing,  '*Oh  to  be  noth- 
ing, nothing,"  has  had  his  prayer  answered, 
and  his  pound  has  been  taken  from  him  long 
ago.  That  is  mysticism,  not  religion.  The 
healthy  soul  wants  to  be  something.  The 
consecrated  soul  is  ever  anxious  to  have  some- 
thing to  consecrate.  To  consecrate  means 
''to  fill  the  hand."  To  sacrifice  is  to  make 
an  offering.  The  supreme  sacrifice  is  of  the 
will.  Our  Lord's  real  offering  was  in  Geth- 
semane,  when  he  said,  ''Not  my  will,  but 
thine  be  done."  What  a  will  Christ  had  to 
offer,  a  will  that  stilled  storms,  hushed  tem- 
pests, controlled  the  mightiest  forces  of  na- 
ture, conquered  Satan,  and  that  entered  the 
caverns  of  Death  and  dragged  him  triumphant 
at  his  chariot  wheels  ! 

The  motto  of  our  Lord  was :  "A  body  hast 
thou  prepared  me.  Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  thy 
will,  O  God."  That  superb  body,  and  all  that 
it  meant  of  love  of  life  and  capacity  for  serv- 
ice, that  self-mastered  body  made  the  vehicle 
of  all  that  was  holy  and  helpful,  he  was  ever 
ready  to  offer  as  a  living  sacrifice.  Nay,  he 
did  offer  it  daily.     It  was  only  in  the  garden 

lOO 


THE   SACRIFICE  OF  THE  WILL 

that  he  made  the  final  offering.  It  is  most 
interestincr  that  in  the  Hebrew  the  idea  of  '*a 
body  hast  thou  prepared  me  "  is  expressed  by 
*'  mine  ears  hast  thou  digged,"  or  **  opened." 
The  attentive  and  responsive  ear  stands  for 
the  whole  body,  as  when  young  Samuel  said, 
*' Speak,  Lord;  for  thy  servant  heareth." 
So  in  the  Orient  to-day  the  idea  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  court  costumes  of  Korea,  as  in 
the  headdress  of  a  minister  of  state,  the  ear- 
like appendages  signifying  that  the  highest 
officer  is  ever  attentive  to  the  king's  com- 
mands. To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  be- 
cause obedience  is  sacrifice — the  living  sacri- 
fice which  is  perpetual.  Thus  Christ  made 
an  eternal  atonement  as  the  Lamb  of  God 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  He 
is  a  Priest  forever,  without  beginning  or  end 
of  days.  He  becomes  unto  all  that  obey  him 
the  author  of  eternal  salvation.  The  stress  of 
our  Lord's  farewell  discourse  is  in  the  reit- 
erated word,  *'obey."  "If  a  man  love  me, 
he  will  keep  my  words."  **If  ye  keep  my 
commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love." 
Obedience  is  the  holiest  sacrifice  and   serv- 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR   THE   MASTER 

ice.  *'  If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall 
eat  the  good  of  the  land."  It  was  the  diso- 
bedient angels  who  kept  not  their  first  estate. 
Our  Lord  taught  us  the  true  idea  of  heaven 
when  he  taught  us  to  pray,  **  Thy  will  be  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven."  Heaven  is 
less  a  place  than  a  state,  a  state  of  obedience. 
*'The  virtue  of  paganism  was  strength;  the 
virtue  of  Christianity  is  obedience."  But 
obedience  is  strength.  It  was  the  strength 
of  Christ,  our  Exemplar.  *'My  meat  is  to 
do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me."  Each  of 
Christ's  temptations  was  to  disobedience. 

Thou  seemest  human  and  divine, 
The  highest  holiest  manhood,  thou; 
Our  wills  are  ours  we  know  not  how; 

Our  wills  are  ours  to  make  them  thine. 

This  is  true  freedom  of  the  will.  As  Lid- 
don  well  says:  **  Man  asserts  what  is  prop- 
erly his  human  liberty  when,  acting  according 
to  the  higher  law  of  his  being,  he  obeys  a  law 
which  he  is  free  to  disobey."  The  offering 
of  our  will  is  the  offering  of  the  things  which 
we  have  chosen  because  we  deemed  them  our 
best  choice;  and  our  choice  is  our  character, 


THE   SACRIFICE  OF  THE  WILL 

for  choice  makes  character.  It  is  thus  the 
offering  of  ourselves.  That  is  why  obedience 
is  such  an  aid  to  faith,  and  disobedience  and 
disbelief  are  synonymous.  More  than  all  his 
meditation  on  the  nature  of  God,  while  dwell- 
ing in  the  wilderness  of  Midian  for  forty 
years,  was  a  single  act  of  obedience  on  the 
part  of  Moses  in  helping  to  show  him  God. 
The  more  frequent  his  acts  of  obedience  the 
stronger  grew  his  faith,  until  there  was  scarce 
anything  too  great  for  Moses  to  ask,  or  for 
God  to  grant.  Who  can  limit  God's  use  of 
a  consecrated  man,  or  count  the  rewards  to 
those  who  obey  him?  '*  If  ye  abide  in  me, 
and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ask  whatsoever 
ye  will^  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you." 
The  word  is  the  same  as  when  Jesus  prayed, 
"Father,  I  will.''  Such  harmony  with  the 
divine  will  made  all  things  theirs.  The  prayer 
of  the  mother  of  James  and  John,  had  it  been 
answered  according  to  her  low  ideals,  would 
have  substituted  her  two  sons  for  the  male- 
factors that  hung  on  the  right  and  left  of 
Christ  on  the  cross.     That  was  the  hour  of 

his  kingdom,  when  being  lifted  up  he  should 
103 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

draw  all  men  unto  him.  Only  her  lack  of 
harmony  with  the  divine  will  made  impossi- 
ble the  answer  to  her  prayer.  She  asked, 
and  received  not  because  she  asked  amiss. 
What  makes  the  human  will  so  mighty  is  that 
it  can  accord  with  the  divine  will.  *'  If  two 
of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  any- 
thing that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for 
them  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
The  word  *' agree"  is  really  *' symphonize." 
Ananias  and  Sapphira  *' agreed  with"  each 
other,  but  not  with  God.  Our  wills  must 
*' symphonize  "  with  God's,  and  the  harmo- 
nies of  heaven  come  down  to  earth. 

Selfishness  is  the  mother  of  anarchy;  nay, 
it  is  the  mother  of  Bedlam.  *' Insane  people 
are  entirely  wrapped  up  in  self,  although  the 
insane  feeling  may  take  on  many  guises." 
They  show  the  soul  without  any  other  center 
than  self,  ever  seeking  honor,  or  telling  of 
imaginary  good  or  evil  to  come  to  themselves. 
A  man  apologizes  for  his  impulsiveness  and 
passion,  and  says,  **It  is  my  nature."  Let 
him  gaze  at  Bedlam  awhile,  and  see  his  real 

nature  left  to  itself  without  the  control  of  rea- 

104 


THE  SACRIFICE  OF  THE  WILL 

son  or  the  help  of  grace.      Long-suffering, 
gentleness,    meekness,    love,    these    are    the 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  who  surren- 
der themselves  to  God.     To  these  is  given 
sanity  of  judgment.      ''My  judgment  is  just, 
because  I  seek  not  my  own  will,  but  the  will 
of  him  that  sent  me."     Submission  to  another 
will,  that  is  Islam:   submission  to  the  Highest 
Will,  that  is  Christianity.     Before  we  are  fit- 
ted for  the  highest  and  best  service,  the  mol- 
ten metal   of  our  natures   must  be  run  into 
God's  mold.    No  man  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto 
God  until  he  has  surrendered  his  will  to  God. 
Our  Lord's  chief  mission  on  earth,  next  to 
his  passion,  was  to  make  a  collection  of  men 
called  ''the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  its  aims, 
membership,  works  are  the  great  themes  of 
its  teaching.     Its   watchword   was    "Obedi- 
ence."    "  If  any  man  will  to  do  my  will,  he 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of 
God."     Our  Lord's  last  word  was   a  com- 
mand. 

It  is  this  obedience  to  God  that  makes  a 
man  a  minister  of  God,  and  is  the  secret  of 
his  power  over  others.     "Nature  resists  na- 
105 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

ture,  the  natural  powers  of  life  instinctive- 
ly rise  in  self-defense,  refusing  to  yield  to 
what  is  no  greater  or  better  than  themselves. 
Hearts  will  yield  only  to  God."  Let  it  be 
seen  that  a  man  has  yielded  his  own  will  to 
God,  and  men  will  yield  their  wills  to  him 
and  heed  his  message.  Livingstone's  power 
over  the  natives  of  Africa  was  the  marvel  of 
all  marvels  in  that  noble  life.  He  says  that 
it  began  when  he  gave  up  his  own  will,  and 
relinquished  his  cherished  desire  to  return  to 
England  at  once  with  the  results  of  some  of 
his  great  discoveries,  to  accompany  the  na- 
tives back  to  their  homes,  which  they  had  left 
to  become  his  burden-bearers.  They  yielded 
their  hearts  to  him  from  that  hour.  *'Such 
as  are  gentle,  them  shall  he  learn  his  way." 
Satan  can  counterfeit  every  grace  but  one — 
complete  self-surrender,  that  means  fidelity 
unto  death.  He  can  transform  himself  into 
an  angel  of  light,  but  he  never  appears  on 
the  cross.  God's  true  minister  serves  whom 
He  will,  when  He  will,  how  He  will,  where 
He  will.  His  motto  is  that  of  the  brave  High- 
landers: "Ready."  He  illustrates  the  ex- 
io6 


THE   SACRIFICE  OF  THE  WILL 

cellent  definition  which  Hugh  Price  Hughes 
gives  of  sanctification :  **A  supreme  desire 
not  to  want  to  have  your  own  way.'* 

A  monk  once  asked  his  superior  what  was 
meant  by  being  **  dead  unto  the  world."  The 
superior  told  him  to  go  out  into  the  Campo 
Santo,  the  holy  place  of  the  dead,  and  to 
praise  the  dead  who  slept  there,  eulogizing 
them  for  their  virtues  and  good  works.  He 
returned  and  reported  that  he  had  done  so. 
**What  did  they  say?"  asked  his  superior. 
"Nothing,"  was  the  reply.  *'Now  go  and 
curse  them,  denouncing  them  as  vile  and 
wicked."  The  monk  returned  and  said:  **I 
have  done  as  you  bade  me,  and  still  they  say 
nothing."  His  superior  said:  "  My  son,  so 
be  you  dead  to  the  world,  indifferent  alike  to 
its  praise  and  its  curse.  So  can  you  the  bet- 
ter live  unto  God."  Religion  is  not,  as  St. 
Francis  taught,  the  extinction  of  the  will;  it  is 
rather  its  development,  through  a  great  pur- 
pose, and  its  consecration.  No  man  can  be 
dead  unto  the  world  who  is  not  completely 
alive  unto  God.  The  siren  voices  are  un- 
heeded because  God's  voice  is  so  full  and 
107 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

clear.  The  soul  responds:  *'  I  am  come  not 
to  do  my  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  me."  Such  a  soul  reads  with  sympathy 
those  startling  words  on  the  walls  of  an  En- 
glish college,  the  motto  of  its  manly  students 
concerned  only  for  the  approval  of  con- 
science and  of  God:  '*They  say.  What  say 
they?  Let  them  say/'  Such  a  kingly  soul 
hears  God  speak,  but  to  obey,  amid  whatever 
tumults;  and  like  Stephen  with  radiant  face 
in  death,  he  sees  Jesus  standing  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.     On  his  sword  and  shield  are 

the  all-conquering  words,  **I  SERVE." 
1 08 


THE  ANOINTED  PREACHER, 


A  completed  man  begins  anew 
A  tendency  to  God. 

— BroTvninff. 

And  chiefly  thoa,  O  Spirit,  that  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples  the  upright  heart  and  pure, 
Instruct  me,  for  thou  know'st;  thou  from  the  first 
Wast  present,  and,  with  mighty  wings  outspread. 
Dove-like  sat'st  brooding  on  the  vast  Abyss, 
And  mad'st  it  pregnant:  what  is  in  me  dark 
Illumine,  what  is  low  raise  and  support; 
That  to  the  height  of  this  great  argument, 
I  may  assert  Eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men. 

—Milton. 


VIII 

THE  ANOINTED  PREACHER. 

There  has  been  more  than  one  Jesus  in 
the  world,  but  only  one  Christ.  The  name 
Jesus  was  simply  the  Greek  form  of  Joshua, 
a  name  not  uncommon  among  the  Jews,  and 
borne  notably  by  the  successor  of  Moses  and 
by  the  high  priest  who  gave  such  valuable  aid 
to  Zerubbabel  in  reestablishing  the  civil  and 
religious  polity  of  the  Jews.  In  bearing  this 
not  uncommon  name,  our  Lord  was  the  more 
intimately  identified  with  our  common  hu- 
manity. He  has  taken  this  name  back  with 
him  to  the  highest  heavens,  and  at  the  name 
of  Jesus  every  knee  shall  bow.  The  Revised 
Version  fitly  renders  it,  '*in  the  name  of  Je- 
sus," to  indicate  that  he  is  to  be  the  object 
of  worship,  as  when  the  psalmist  says,  '*  So 
will  I  bless  thee  while  I  live ;  I  will  lift  up  my 
hands  in  thy  name."  But  it  was  not  simply 
as  Jesus  that  our  Lord  won  the  homage  and 
worship  of  men.     It  was  as  Christ  Jesus,  the 

Anoinled  ]qsus.     For  this  is  life  eternal,  that 
m 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

they  might  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  didst  send.  Jesus 
is  spoken  of  mostly  as  the  Christ  or  the 
Anointed  by  the  evangelists;  but  by  Paul 
and  Peter  he  is  called  Jesus  Christ,  or  sim- 
ply Christ.  The  appellation  had  become  a 
name.  True  to  the  Hebrew  mode  of  thought, 
the  name  was  the  symbol  of  the  nature  or  es- 
sence of  the  thing  or  person  named.  Thus 
in  Christ's  name  we  have  all  that  can  be  de- 
fined of  his  nature  and  his  work.  His  anoint- 
ing showed  him  to  be  both  Lord  and  Christ. 
Alike  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,  he  was 
Christ.  Anointing  was  required  for  all  who 
exercised  the  priestly,  prophetic,  or  kingly 
functions.  Jesus,  who  was  to  exercise  them 
all,  was  eminently  the  Christ,  the  Anointed. 
* 'Above  thy  fellows "  hath  God  anointed 
thee,  because  thou  hast  loved  righteousness 
and  hated  iniquity,  and  thy  throne  shall  stand 
forever  and  ever.  The  perfect  manhood  of 
Jesus  was  made  the  vehicle  for  the  manifes- 
tation of  his  divinity. 

What  an  anointing  !     The  generous  chrism 
which  ran  down  first  upon  Aaron's  head,  then 


THE  ANOINTED   PREACHER 

upon   his  beard,  and   came   down  upon  the 
skirt  of  his  garment,  prefigured  his  anoint- 
ing when  he  should  be  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  was   to  be  given  without  meas- 
ure unto  him.     Verily  in  him  dwelleth  all  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  and  in  him 
ye  are  made  full.     It  is  one  full  of  grace  and 
truth  of  whose  fullness  we   all  may  receive 
and  grace  for  grace,  all  needful  graces  for 
that  gracious  capacity  whereby  we  can  know 
and  enjoy  all  spiritual  things.     It  is  one  upon 
whom   the   Spirit   descends   and    abides  who 
alone  can  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost.     The 
Holy  Spirit  ever  comes  to  men  out  of  the  per- 
fected and   glorified  manhood  of  Jesus,  the 
Anointed.     This  is  the  promise  of  the  Father 
which   tells   of  the   one   complete,   full,    and 
suflicient  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world.     To  confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  is 
possible  only  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  it  is  to 
see  him  as  he  is  anointed  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
risen  from  the  dead  through  the  Holy  Ghost, 
glorified    through  the   Holy  Ghost,   and  be- 
come the  very  source  whence  the  Holy  Ghost 

is  given  to  his  disciples.     This  was  the  theme 
S  113 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

of  the  apostles,  *'even  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
how  that  God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  power:  who  went  about  do- 
ing good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed 
of  the  devil;  for  God  was  with  him."  This 
was  the  Word  who  became  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  glory  as 
of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of 
grace  and  truth. 

It  was  witnesses  of  his  glory  on  whose 
fidelity  rested  the  perpetuation  among  men 
of  the  blessed  truth  of  his  incarnation  and  its 
divine  meaning.  But  men  could  not  believe 
their  testimony  unless  they  were  anointed 
witnesses.  Truths  so  high  required  such 
clearness  of  apprehension,  such  confidence 
of  statement,  such  courage  of  conviction, 
such  tenderness  of  appeal,  that  only  Spirit- 
filled  men  could  effectually  proclaim  them. 
Without  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  so 
feeble  would  have  been  their  utterances  that 
the  very  m.emory  of  Jesus  must  soon  have 
perished.  They  lacked  everything  that  was 
essential.     Their  views  of  truth  were  vague ; 

their  bewilderment    attending    his  trial    and 
114 


THE  ANOINTED   PREACHER 

passion  had  left  their  memory  weak;  they 
were  wanting  in  courage;  and,  above  all, 
they  were  wanting  in  love  for  the  enemies  of 
Jesus.  They  needed  to  be  filled  before  they 
could  overflow.  The  rivers  of  w^ater  which 
were  promised  to  flow  from  those  who  be- 
lieved on  Jesus  must  first  be  received,  for  the 
Spirit  was  not  yet  given.  Therefore  they 
must  tarry  at  Jerusalem  until  they  could  be 
clothed  with  power  from  on  high.  But  ye 
shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  come  upon  you;  and  ye  shall  be  my  wit- 
nesses both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea 
and  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of 
the  earth.  The  whole  of  the  Acts  is  in  that 
verse.  Nay,  the  whole  history  of  the  king- 
dom is  in  it. 

To  these  anointed  witnesses  was  given  an 
epiphany  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  each  of  these 
designated  fields.  In  tongues  of  fire,  and 
with  the  sound  of  a  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind, 
a  veritable  cyclone  which  aroused  the  whole 
city  of  Jerusalem,  was  the  first  epiphany  of 
the  Spirit.  The  second  epiphany  was  when 
in  the  more  retired  quarters,  where  the  dis- 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR   THE   MASTER 

ciples  dwelt,  and  whither  Peter  and  John 
came  after  they  were  released  from  prison. 
**  While  they  prayed  the  place  was  shaken 
wherein  they  were  gathered  together;  and 
they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 
In  Samaria  next  there  was  another  epiphany 
of  the  Spirit,  so  notable  in  its  effect  on  the 
Samaritan  believers,  as  Peter  and  John  laid 
their  hands  on  them,  that  Simon  Magus  of- 
fered them  money,  saying:  "Give  me  also 
this  power,  that  on  whomsoever  I  lay  my 
hands,  he  may  receive  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Then  came  the  fourth  epiphany  in  the  home 
of  a  heathen  as  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all 
them  which  heard  the  word,  so  that  they 
all  spake  with  tongues  and  glorified  God, 
until  all  that  came  with  Peter  to  the  house  of 
Cornelius  were  amazed  that  on  the  Gentiles 
also  was  poured  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
In  every  instance  it  was  anointed  witnesses 
whose  ministry  and  worship  were  attended 
by  this  epiphany  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  No 
wonder  they  so  boldly  declared,  **And  we 
are  witnesses  of  these  things;   and  so  is  also 

the  Holy  Ghost,  whom   God  hath  given  to 
ii6 


THE  ANOINTED   PREACHER 

them  that  obey  him."  The  "other  Com- 
forter" had  come,  and  his  authority  was  so 
supreme  that  when  Ananias  and  Sapphira 
yielded  to  Satan's  power  the  apostle  said, 
*' Why  hath  Satan  filled  thy  heart  to  lie  unto 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  how  is  it  that  ye  have 
agreed  together  to  tempt  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord?"  So  present  was  he  in  their  delib- 
erations that  the  disciples  could  say,  **It 
seemed  good  unto  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to 
us."  To  anointed  men  the  Holy  Spirit  be- 
came the  promised  Lord  of  the  harvest,  to 
whom  they  ever  prayed  that  he  might  send 
out  laborers  into  his  harvest.  And  it  was  to 
a  whole  Church  thus  at  prayer  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  said,  '*  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul 
for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them." 
Then  began  the  aggressive  missionary  work 
of  the  Church  under  anointed  men,  which  is 
to-day,  as  it  has  been  for  centuries,  a  very 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit.  The  true  Sheki- 
nah  is  a  holy  man.  The  symbol  of  the  divine 
presence  may  ever  be  seen  in  the  tongue  of 
fire.     It  is  the  unction,  the   anointing  from 

the  Holy  One.     What  a  new  discovery  of  the 
117 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

divine  resources  comes  with  the  knowledge 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ! 

It  will  guard  the  witness  for  Christ  from  a 
fatal  blunder  if  he  sees  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  anointing  men  for  the  work  of  the  ministry 
anoints  the  whole  man.     The   holy    chrism 
reaches  the  heart  only  after  it  has  first  anoint- 
ed the  head.     Then  it  comes  down  even  to 
the    feet.      Intellect,    sensibilities,    and    will 
must  all  be   anointed.     It   was  because  the 
apostles  had  now  clearer  views  of  truth  that 
they  were  of  one  mind.     They  saw  alike  be- 
cause they  saw  the  same  things.     They  were 
**apt  to  teach"   because   their  minds  were 
full.    The  Holy  Spirit  was  with  them  to  bring 
all  things  to  their  remembrance,  and  to  guide 
them  into  all  truth.     He  is  the  Spirit  of  truth, 
who  guides  all  who  seek  guidance,  acknowl- 
edging   their   humble    dependence    on    him. 
He  teaches  men  how  to  wield  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God,  by  first 
searching  the  Scriptures  as  one  searcheth  for 
hidden   treasures.     The   promise    of    Christ 
was:    ''Ye   shall   know   the    truth,   and    the 

truth  shall  make  you  free."     The  truth  into 
ii8 


THE  ANOINTED   PREACHER 

which  the  Spirit  of  truth  should  lead  them 
would  be  all  truth,  for  the  Spirit  searcheth 
and  knoweth  the  deep  things  of  God.  This 
truth  would  free  them  from  narrowness  of 
view,  from  mere  half  truths,  from  the  cow- 
ardice which  dwells  in  darkness,  and  would 
make  them  the  children  of  light.  While  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  so  momen- 
tous that  it  may  be  described  as  that  in  which 
all  other  blessings  are  included,  it  was  pri- 
marily a  baptism  of  truth.  He  who  was  the 
Truth  gave  to  his  disciples  the  Spirit  of  truth 
as  their  supreme  equipment.  Almost  his  last 
prayer  for  them  was:  **  Sanctify  them  in  the 
truth;  th}^  word  is  truth."  Bishop  Horsley 
well  said  of  Christ:  **  The  uninterrupted 
perfect  commerce  of  his  human  soul  with  the 
divine  Spirit  was  the  effect  and  privilege  of 
that  mysterious  conjunction."  That  was  his 
anointing.  His  human  nature  owed  the  right 
use  of  its  faculties,  in  the  exercise  of  them 
upon  religious  subjects,  and  its  uncorrupted 
rectitude  of  will,  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

That    is    a    sinful    disparagement    of    our 
119 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

powers  which  mutilates  the  intellectual  life, 
and  makes  religion  a  thing  of  the  sensibili- 
ties. Dr.  Upham,  who  wrote  so  helpfully  on 
'*The  Inner  Life,"  said:  "  I  have  sometimes 
thought  that  persons  of  flighty  conceptions 
and  vigorous  enthusiasm  would  regard  the 
Saviour,  if  he  were  now  on  the  earth,  as  too 
calm  and  gentle,  too  thoughtful  and  intellec- 
tual, too  free  from  impulsive  and  excited  agi- 
tations, to  be  reckoned  with  those  who  are 
often  considered  the  most  advanced  in  re- 
ligion." The  saintliness  of  John  Wesley 
lay  not  in  an  excited  and  ungoverned  emo- 
tional nature,  but  in  the  glorious  liberty  which 
spiritual  truth  had  brought  him  and  the  con- 
suming desire  to  tell  it  to  all  the  world,  of 
which  Paul  spoke  when  he  said,  "  The  love 
of  Christ  constraineth  me."  He  sought  to 
love  the  Lord  with  all  his  mind.  He  be- 
lieved what  Godet  has  so  well  said  a  century 
later:  '*  Man  is  a  vessel  destined  to  receive 
God,  a  vessel  that  must  be  enlarged  in  pro- 
portion as  it  is  filled,  and  filled  in  proportion 
as  it  is  enlarged."  A  Buddhist  may  believe 
in  the   extinction   of  mind;   a   Christian   be- 


THE   ANOINTED   PREACHER 

lieves  in  its  continuous  enlargement.  Growth 
in  grace  is  always  preceded  by  growth  in  the 
knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The 
truly  anointed  preacher  is  he  who  knows 
most  of  Christ.  The  test  of  his  anointing  is 
the  test  of  his  purpose  to  know  him  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection.  Yea,  he  must 
count  all  things  to  be  loss  for  the  excellency 
of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord. 
*'An  indolent  minister  is  not  a  spiritually- 
minded  man."  *'  The  holiest  men  in  the 
Church  have  been  the  most  studious." 

Unless  there  be  the  heart  of  fire,  there  can- 
not be  the  tongue  of  flame.  It  is  the  burn- 
ing core  within  that  yields  the  flaming  tongue 
on  the  volcano's  brow.  Truth  is  the  Spirit's 
fuel  that  keeps  alive  the  eternal  fires.  Books 
of  a  purely  devotional  character  are  not  al- 
ways the  best  sole  reading  for  a  man  of  God. 
I  am  afraid  of  any  man  whose  devotional 
reading  is  confined  even  to  a  single  book  of 
the  Bible.  He  needs  to  hear  our  Lord  say, 
«*  It  is  written  again."  All  Scripture  is  given 
by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  in- 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

struction   in   righteousness,    that  the   man  of 
God  may  be   perfect,    thoroughly  furnished 
unto  all  good  works.     The  brain  needs  to  do 
strenuous  work,  to  be  set  to  tasks  of   close 
and   careful  thinking  as  well   as   of   expres- 
sion, not  in  the  words  which  man's  wisdom 
teacheth,  but  which  the  Spirit  teacheth,  com- 
paring  spiritual  things   with  spiritual,  if  we 
would  know  and  teach  the  things  which  are 
freely  given  to  us  by  God.     For   God  hath 
not  given  us   a  spirit  of  fear,  but  of  power 
and  of  love  and  of  a  sound  mind.     In  PauFs 
day  there  were  those  who  measured  the  pres- 
ence  of   the   Spirit   by  the    amount  of   con- 
fusion,   to    whom    the    apostle    calmly    said: 
*'  The  spirits  of  the  prophets  are  subject  to 
the  prophets ;   for  God  is  not  a  God  of  con- 
fusion, but  of  peace;   as  in  all  the  churches 
of  the  saints."     Elijah  found  God  not  in  the 
storm  or   earthquake,    but  in  the    still  small 
voice  which  taught  sobriety  of  judgment  and 
imparted  courage.     Of  rhapsodists  the  world 
has    had   more    than    enough;     of    anointed 
preachers,  alas !  too  few.     John  the  Baptist 
was  one,  "  filled  with  the   Holy  Ghost  from 

122 


THE   ANOINTED   PREACHER 

his  mother's  womb,"  and  his  characteristics 
were  a  clear  perception  of  the  truth,  courage 
to  preach  it,  and  great  humihty.  These,  too, 
were  the  signs  of  the  indvv^elHng  Spirit  in  his 
seven-fold  gifts  in  the  Christ  of  God.  What 
an  hour  of  holy  joy  when  standing  in  the  syna- 
gogue at  Nazareth  he  was  able  to  say,  *'The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  the 
Lord  hath  anointed  me  \.o  -preach''! 

No  preacher  can  claim  the  assistance  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  who  delights  in  mere  sensa- 
tional themes,  mere  '-'topics  of  the  day." 
The  Holy  Spirit  witnesses  only  to  those 
truths  to  which  he  came  into  the  world  to 
bear  witness.  What  a  divine  example  here  I 
"For  he  shall  not  speak  from  himself;  but 
whatsoever  things  he  shall  hear,  these  shall 
he  speak.  He  shall  glorify  me ;  for  he  shall 
take  of  mine  and  shall  declare  it  unto  you." 
What  mockery,  to  invite  the  greatest  Intelli- 
gence, the  mightiest  Thinker  in  the  universe 
to  assist  in  discussing  such  low,  earth-born 
themes  as  are  sometimes  the  food  set  be- 
fore immortal  souls  !  Tholuck  has  well  said: 
**  The  sermon  must  have  Heaven  for  its  fa- 
1-3 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

ther  and  Earth  for  its  mother."  It  is  truth 
from  God  which  alone  can  hft  men  up  to  God. 
If  the  sermon  is  simply  of  the  earth  earthy, 
alike  in  its  theme,  conception,  and  treatment, 
thou  knowest  whence  it  cometh  and  whither 
it  goeth.  Such  a  theme  may  do  for  the  lec- 
ture platform,  but  not  for  the  pulpit.  The 
anointed  preacher  is  careful  to  teach  those 
things  that  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth,  that 
he  may  claim  the  light  and  unction  from 
above. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  **  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  and  understanding,  the  spirit  of 
counsel  and  might,  the  spirit  of  knowledge 
of  the  fear  of  the  Lord ;  and  shall  make  him 
of  quick  understanding  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord." 

Thou  the  anointing  Spirit  art, 
Who  dost  thy  seven-fold  gifts  Impart. 
Thj  blessed  unction  from  above 
Is  comfort,  life,  and  fire  of  love. 
Enable  with  perpetual  light 
The  dullness  of  our  blinded  sight. 
124 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION. 


O  Saul,  it  shall  be 
A  Face  like  my  face  that  receives  thee;  a  Man  like  tome, 
Thou  shalt  love  and  be  loved  by,  forever;  a  Hand  like 

this  hand 
Shall  throw  open  the  gates  of  new  life  to  thee.     See  the 

Christ  stand. 

— Broivning^. 

He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 

All  things  great  and  small. 
For  the  dear  Lord,  who  loveth  us, 

He  made  and  died  for  all. 

— Coleridge, 


IX 

THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION. 

Nothing  which  does  not  itself  burn  can 
kindle  a  flame  in  anything  else.  The  fire 
must  be  in  the  heart  of  the  preacher  before 
there  is  a  tongue  of  fire  in  the  pulpit  or  a 
flame  is  kindled  in  the  heart  of  a  single  hear- 
er. "Preaching  at  its  best  is  prayer  turned 
round."  Preaching  is  the  ministry  of  inter- 
cession. The  very  sermon  becomes  a  prayer 
to  the  hearer,  as  though  God  were  entreating 
him  by  his  ambassador.  "We  beseech  you 
on  behalf  of  Christ,  be  ye  reconciled  to 
God."  The  object  of  the  sermon  is  persua- 
sion, to  induce  men  to  act.  Argument,  illus- 
tration, elaboration,  are  all  simply  means  to 
an  end — to  influence  the  will.  It  is  not  nec- 
essary simply  to  instruct  or  even  to  convince ; 
what  the  preacher  wants  is  a  verdict.  His 
jury  must  not  simply  be  convinced ;  they 
must  have  courage  to  act.  All  must  be  ex- 
cluded that  is  not  tributary  to  persuasion. 
127 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

Unless  the  preacher  has  a  favorable  verdict, 
everything  else  is  unavailing.  He  is  ready 
to  yield  to  his  audience  in  every  point  save 
the  one  in  which  he  would  have  them  yield 
to  him.  He  must  gain  his  case.  He  must 
by  all  means  save  some.  With  Pauline  tact 
he  becomes  all  things  to  all  men.  Whatever 
his  own  personal  opinions  on  lesser  matters, 
he  is  willing  to  hold  everything  in  abeyance 
if  he  can  only  persuade  men  to  be  saved. 

This  is  the  firing  line  of  the  ministry;  for 
it  has  been  made  the  careful  preparation  of 
the  schools  and  of  the  study,  the  mastery  of 
oneself,  and  the  organization  of  the  forces  of 
the  Church.  The  ever-present  question  is 
the  firing  line;  and  what  execution  can  be 
done  there  in  destroying  the  power  of  the 
enemy !  There  are  two  lines  between  which 
the  preacher  moves — the  *'dead  line"  and 
the  ''firing  line."  Crossing  the  dead  line  is 
not  a  question  of  age  or  health,  but  of  love  of 
souls.  All  the  world  loves  a  lover,  and  no 
preacher  of  the  gospel  can  fail  of  a  hearing 
whose    heart    glows   with   the    fires   of   love. 

Aged   John,   unable   to   stand   in   the   pulpit, 

128 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION 

never  lacked  hearers  who  came  to  listen  to 
his  '*  Little  children,  love  one  another."  But 
the  preacher,  regardless  of  age,  to  whom  the 
love  of  preaching  is  stronger  than  the  love  of 
men,  will  find  that  even  though  he  speak  with 
the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels  it  profits 
him  nothing.  Platitudes  become  as  sound- 
ing brass  and  clanging  cymbals.  They  may 
frighten,  or  even  please,  but  they  cannot 
save.  That  preacher  is  always  near  the  dead 
line  who  confesses  that  it  is  irksome  to  try  to 
save  souls,  whether  in  the  home  or  in  the 
office,  and  w^hose  sermons  lack  the  spirit  of 
intercession  both  for  men  and  with  men. 
The  man  who  has  thrown  aw^ay  his  musket 
or  his  sword,  and  who  dreads  the  firing  line, 
is  at  best  a  camp  follower,  and  not  a  soldier. 
The  firing  line  is  the  place  of  greatest  safety, 
because  it  is  the  place  of  perpetual  youth. 
Whoever  knew  of  an  old  angel?  *'  The  old- 
est angels  are  the  youngest,"  said  Sweden- 
borg  after  one  of  his  visions.  Their  youth  is 
renewed  like  the  eagle's. 

Paul's  heart  was  younger  when  he  awaited 

the   headsman's   ax  at  Rome   than  when  he 
9  129 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

preached  so  boldly  at  Damascus  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  fully  thirty  years  before,  because  he 
had  lived  on  the  firing  line.  When  he  died, 
**  his  sword  was  in  his  hand,  still  warm  with 
recent  fight." 

Bent  on  such  glorious  toils, 

The  world  to  him  was  loss ; 
Yet  all  his  trophies,  all  his  spoils, 

He  hung  upon  the  cross. 

To  his  mind  there  was  no  ministry  com- 
plete that  did  not  ever  strive  for  the  salvation 
of  souls.  He  lived  in  an  age  of  artificial 
rhetoric  among  the  Greeks,  when  men  were 
jugglers  with  words,  and  when  the  applause 
of  the  multitude  was  sought  by  using  enticing 
words  of  man's  wisdom.  The  Greeks  praised 
a  sermon  or  an  oration  simply  as  a  work  of 
art.  Paul  gave  them  no  time  to  examine  his 
Damascus  blade  and  to  praise  its  finish. 
There  was  time  enough  for  that  after  the 
surrender.  He  was  preaching  to  a  people 
who  had  perished,  not  because  of  their  love 
of  the  beautiful,  but  for  their  inattention  to 
conduct.     They  were  triflers  still,  but  Paul 

would  never  give  up  a  man  until  he  was  cer- 
130 


THE  MINISTRY  OF   INTERCESSION 

tain  that  Christ  had  given  him  up.  He  was 
so  intent  on  saving  men  that  he  cared  Httle 
about  their  criticism.  They  might  call  his 
style  of  preaching  foolishness,  but  he  knew 
that  the  gospel  was  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the 
Greek,  for  therein  is  revealed  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  by  faith  unto  faith.  Paul  was 
the  apostle  of  obedience  to  Christ.  Men 
were  in  danger,  and  his  life-work  was  to  in- 
tercede with  them,  to  beseech  them  to  be 
reconciled  to  God. 

*'  Do  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  make  full 
proof  of  thy  ministry,"  was  the  last  message 
of  the  apostle  to  Timothy,  the  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Ephesus.  What  numerous  details, 
what  specific  instructions,  are  needed  by  one 
who  has  the  oversight  of  such  a  flock  among 
whom  Paul  himself  had  given  three  of  the 
best  years  of  his  life  as  their  pastor,  teaching 
them  both  publicly  and  from  house  to  house. 
None  of  these  things  can  be  neglected,  but  in 
order  to  fulfill  thy  ministry,  **do  the  work  of 
an  evangelist."  No  ministry  is  complete  that 
is  not  marked  by  a  consuming  love  of  men 
131 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

and  a  tireless  endeavor  to  save  the  souls  of 
men.  It  is  the  work  of  an  evangelist  that  is 
stressed,  and  not  the  office.  Doubtless  at 
the  beginning  the  evangelist  was  an  itinerant 
missionary,  preaching  the  gospel  much  as 
our  missionaries  now  do  among  the  heathen. 
While  some  became  pastors  and  teachers, 
and  others  apostles  and  prophets,  there  were 
those  who  gave  themselves  wholly  to  itin- 
erating, obeying  the  command,  **As  ye  go, 
preach."  Those  w^ho  were  scattered  abroad, 
after  the  persecution  that  followed  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  Stephen,  **  went  everywhere,  evan- 
gelistically  preaching  the  word."  The  apos- 
tles themselves  did  this,  rejoicing  when  they 
could  build  on  no  other  man's  foundation. 
At  Derbe  and  Lystra,  and  in  the  region 
round  about,  the  apostles  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas evangelized,  and  Timothy  was  reached 
through  their  efforts.  Paul's  own  son  in  the 
gospel  had  this  tender  recollection  of  the 
apostle's  own  work  as  an  evangelist,  doubt- 
less often  a  subject  of  conversation  between 
them.  Whatever  other  work  may  fall  to  the 
apostle's   fellow-worker  in    Philippi    and   in 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION 

Corinth  and  in  Thessalonica,  as  he  addresses 
himself  to  his  ministry  in  Ephesus  that  minis- 
try must  be  marked  by  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist, and  Timothy  must  do  that  work  if  he 
fulfill  his  ministry. 

Paul  declared,  *' Christ  sent  me  not  to  bap- 
tize, but  to  evangelize";   and  he  would  re- 
mind Timothy  that  no  other  work,  however 
important,  could  ever  take  the  place  of  the 
direct  preaching  of  the  gospel  with  the  ex- 
pectation of  immediate  results  in  the  conver- 
sion of  souls.     It  was  this  work  which  would 
best  prepare  him  to  do  all  his  other  work  and 
keep  him  joyous  amid  what  came  upon  him 
daily,  *'the  care  of  all  the  churches."    What 
that  meant,  any  faithful  missionary  can  tell 
who   attempts  to   shepherd   a  flock  recently 
won  from  such   idolatrous  practices  as   had 
prevailed  in  Ephesus  for  centuries,  until  the 
very  business  of  the  people  seemed  insepara- 
ble from  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  images 
for  idol  worship.    Unless  the  gospel  has  con- 
stant power  to   save  men  amid   such   condi- 
tions, the  pastor  degenerates  into  a  formalist 
who  persuades  himself  that  the  day  for  reviv- 


133 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

als  is  past.  Who  can  doubt  that  the  excess- 
ive ceremonialism  of  the  Roman  Church  was 
made  possible  only  by  the  absence  of  revival 
power  among  her  ministry?  It  is  not  strange 
that  the  Latin  pulpit  was  so  long  silent  when 
it  had  forgotten  its  real  message  to  men. 
For  a  period  of  five  hundred  years  not  a 
single  sermon  was  preached  by  a  bishop  of 
Rome,  that  Eternal  City  whence  Paul  had 
written  that  the  doing  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist was  essential  to  the  complete  work  of 
the  ministry.  The  human  spirit  enlightened 
and  fired  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  only  ad- 
equate agency  for  communicating  to  men 
God's  revelation  of  himself  in  Christ.  Truth 
incarnated  in  goodness  in  the  preacher's  heart 
and  life  can  alone  fit  him  for  the  true  minis- 
try, the  ministry  of  intercession.  The  birth- 
day of  the  Church  was  also  the  birthday  of 
the  Christian  sermon  under  the  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  at  Pentecost.  The  sermon 
was  born  of  the  prayer  for  his  murderers 
which  our  Lord  made  upon  the  cross,  and 
which  made  possible  the  intercessory  sermons 
of  the  apostles.  The  voices  that  would  have 
134 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION 

called  down  fire  from  heaven  to  destroy  the 
Samaritans  now  importune  for  them  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  beseech  them  to  be 
reconciled  to  God. 

Such  preaching  makes  a  man  aware  of  his 
soul,  and  then  helps  him  to  save  it.  It  teach- 
es him  that  the  eternal  is  not  so  much  the  fu- 
ture as  it  is  the  unseen,  and  that  life  is  real 
just  as  it  feels  the  reality  and  presence  of  the 
unseen — of  God.  It  is  not  appeal  only.  It 
is  instruction,  it  is  doctrine,  it  is  argument, 
followed  by  appeal.  It  is  logic  on  fire.  It 
is  speaking  the  truth  in  love,  even  as  Paul 
did  '*in  tears,"  and  giving  it  a  meaning  it 
never  had  before.  It  is  hunger  for  souls  like 
John  Knox  had  when  he  prayed,  ''  O  Lord, 
give  me  Scotland;  O  Lord,  give  me  Scot- 
land; O  Lord,  give  me  Scotland,  or  I  die!" 
The  nearest  way  to  any  human  heart  is  by 
way  of  heaven  in  importunate  prayer.  The 
easiest  people  to  preach  to  are  those  for 
whom  we  pray  most.  A  sermon  that  has 
been  born  twice — once  in  the  study  in  wrest- 
ling prayer,  and  then  again  in  the  pulpit  in 
the  heart  of  the  preacher — soon  becomes 
135 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

prayer  turned  round,  and  intercedes  with 
men,  beseeches  men,  and,  under  God,  saves 
men.  Ah,  that  is  the  preaching  such  as  John 
Wesley  did  whom  Southey  pronounced  ''  the 
most  influential  man  of  the  last  century — the 
man  who  will  have  produced  the  greatest 
effects  centuries,  or  perhaps  millenniums, 
hence,  if  the  present  race  of  men  should 
continue  so  long";  and  to  whom  Lowth, 
Bishop  of  London,  said:  '*  Mr.  Wesley,  may 
I  be  found  at  your  feet  in  heaven !  "  Won- 
derful as  a  scholar,  with  a  preparation  for 
life  as  elaborate  and  painstaking  as  that  of 
John  Milton ;  mighty  as  an  organizer,  having 
the  genius  of  a  Richelieu ;  lovely  as  a  saint 
with  **  a  genius  for  godliness,"  his  greatest 
work  was  that  of  a  minister  of  intercession. 
Because  he  was  so  well  equipped,  Wesley  was 
able  to  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist  in  reviv- 
ing and  extending  spiritual  religion  throughout 
the  world.  His  preaching  taught  men,  con- 
victed men,  indoctrinated  men,  importuned 
men,  and  brought  them  by  the  thousand  to 
Christ,  and  organized  them  for  work.     What 

a  '*  staff  "he  had  in  his  class  leaders,  to  follow 
136 


THE  MINISTRY  OF   INTERCESSION 

up  his  work  as  well  as  to  win  souls  and  help 
to  conserve  results !  A  great  prelate  said : 
''  Nothing  in  Methodism  more  evinces  the  far- 
seeing  sagacity  of  Mr.  Wesley  than  the  class 
meeting  as  an  expedient  to  supply  his  follow- 
ers at  once  the  opportunity  of  Christian  fel- 
lowship and  the  minutest  oversight  of  indi- 
vidual interests." 

And  shall  this  ministry  of  intercession, 
through  the  incapacity  of  the  pastor  to  do 
the  work  of  an  evangelist,  and  to  assist  his 
fellow-pastor,  be  turned  over  to  some  profes- 
sional, and  the  people  be  taught  to  believe 
that  the  set  time  to  favor  Zion  depends  on 
pledging  a  sufficient  sum  to  secure  his  serv- 
ices ?  Paul  an  evangelist,  Barnabas  an  evan- 
gelist, Timothy  the  faithful  pastor  an  evan- 
gelist and  recognizing  that  it  was  the  crown- 
ing work  of  his  ministry,  and  yet  any  pastor 
in  our  day  not  able  to  do  the  work  of  an 
evangelist,  not  sufficiently  troubled  about  the 
souls  of  his  congregation  to  be  able  to  be- 
seech them  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  Let  no 
man  take  thy  crown.  Make  full  proof  of 
thy  ministry. 

137 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

The  history  of  the  pulpit  is  the  history 
of  the  Church.  The  spirit  of  the  age  is  re- 
flected by  the  pulpit.  An  effeminate  pul- 
pit means  an  effeminate  age.  A  pulpit  of 
strong  convictions  makes  an  age  of  sound 
doctrines  and  of  heroes,  an  age  of  mission- 
aries and  of  ''  many  added  unto  the  Lord." 
A  weak,  timeserving  pulpit,  simply  '*  preach- 
ing to  the  times,"  and  on  subjects  that  are 
far  better  discussed  in  our  great  papers  and 
reviews,  means  an  age  of  shallow  convic- 
tions, of  superficial  repentance,  and  little 
vital  godliness.  Sometimes  the  history  of  the 
pulpit  of  a  given  church  is  summed  up  in  the 
words  of  Hosea:  *'  My  people  are  destroyed 
for  lack  of  knowledge."  If  there  were  not 
some  fat  years  to  follow  those  lean  years, 
none  could  survive  the  famine.  How  care- 
ful is  the  skillful  physician,  even  of  his 
hands,  lest  in  seeking  to  alleviate  the  suffer- 
ings of  others  any  heedlessness  on  his  part 
might  increase  their  peril.  **  Take  heed  to 
thyself,  and  to  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  thee  overseer.     Take  heed 

to  thyself,  and  to  thy  teaching.     Continue  in 
138 


THE   MINISTRY  OF   INTERCESSION 

these    things;   for   in    doing    this    thou    shalt 
save  both  thyself  and  them  that  hear  thee." 

The  ministry  of  intercession  for  which  the 
pastor  is  responsible  is  not  to  be  confined 
to  special  seasons,  although  there  are  times 
when  he  finds  it  best  wholly  to  preoccupy  the 
minds  of  the  people  with  the  claims  of  rehgion 
and  the  appeals  for  immediate  action.  But 
his  preaching  is  best  adapted  to  what  is  called 
a  revival  occasion  each  of  whose  sermons  is 
suited  for  a  revival  because  he  ever  keeps 
in  mind  that  persuasion  is  the  real  end  of 
preaching.  Such  a  man  of  God  is  always 
seeking  to  make  full  proof  of  his  ministry  in 
the  conversion  of  souls,  as  well  as  in  beseech- 
ing men  to  present  their  bodies  a  living  sacri- 
fice to  God.  There  is  enough  gospel  truth 
in  every  such  sermon  to  save  a  soul.  Happy 
that  preacher  who  can  say  what  was  said  by 
Phillips  Brooks  when,  after  preaching  be- 
fore Queen  Victoria,  he  was  asked  what 
sermon  he  preached.  **What  sermon?"  he 
asked.  *' I  have  but  one  sermon;  that  is 
Christ."  It  sometimes  will  happen  that 
some  one  is  hearing  his  last  sermon  from 
139 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

your  lips.     Let  there  be  enough  of  Christ  in 
it  to  save  both  thyself  and  them  that  hear  it. 

In  closing  let  me  beseech  you  to  make  this 
ministrj^  of  intercession  your  life-work.  I 
commend  to  you,  my  brethren,  these  eloquent 
words  of  Dr.  George  Douglass  in  his  tribute 
to  Mr.  Wesley  as  a  revivalist: 

Let  none  suppose  that  ministerial  power  must  de- 
cline when  the  freshness  and  buoyancy  of  early  man- 
hood depart.  With  advancing  years  the  influence  and 
usefulness  of  Wesley's  ministry  increased,  and  the  splen- 
dor of  its  eventide  far  surpassed  the  glory  of  its  dawn. 
.  .  .  Sun  of  the  morning,  that  openest  the  gates  of 
the  day,  and  com.est  blushing  o'er  the  land  and  the  sea, 
why  marchest  thou  to  thy  throne  in  the  heavens,  filling 
the  firmament  with  splendor.'*  Why,  but  to  symbolize 
the  coming  glory  of  the  spiritually  wise.  "They  that  be 
wise  shall  shine  as  the  firmament."  Star  of  the  mid- 
night hour,  that  hast  shone  on  patriarch  and  prophet, 
waking  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  ages  and  genera- 
tions, why  thy  ceaseless  burning?  Why,  but  to  show 
the  abiding  brightness  of  the  soul-winner.  "They  that 
turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  for- 
ever and  ever." 

140 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  SUFFERING. 


He  hath  not  guessed  Christ's  agony, 
He  hath  not  dreamed  His  bitterest  woe, 

Who  hath  not  worn  the  crown  of  love 
And  felt  the  crown  of  anguish  so. 

Ah,  not  the  torments  of  the  cross, 

Or  nails  that  pierced,  or  thirst  that  burned. 
Heightened  the  Kingly  Victim's  pain, 

But  grief  of  griefs— His  love  was  spurned. 


—Aldrich, 


The  voice  sounds  like  a  prophet's  word 
And  in  its  hollow  tones  are  heard 
The  thanks  of  millions  yet  to  be  I 


-HallecJc. 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  SUFFERING. 

Suffering  is  not  always  penalty.  It  may 
mean  discipline  for  service,  or  even  service 
itself.  There  is  a  sacred  chalice  pressed  to 
the  lips  of  love  that  selfishness  can  never 
know,  and  which  makes  suffering  at  times  a 
very  sacrament.  However  Satan  may  trans- 
form himself  into  an  angel  of  light  to  tempt 
men,  he  has  never  appeared  to  them  on  the 
cross.  The  nails  and  the  crown  of  thorns 
have  no  attraction  to  Antichrist.  It  is  only 
the  Good  Shepherd  that  lays  down  his  life 
for  the  sheep. 

The  power  to  suffer  is  measured  by  the 
power  to  love.  It  is  found  at  its  best  in  God 
himself.  Incapacity  to  suffer  means  an  ab- 
normal, an  undeveloped  nature.  It  needed 
a  Being  perfect  in  pity,  in  compassion,  in 
forbearance,  in  love,  to  so  love  the  world  as 
to  give  his  only-begotten  Son  to  save  sinners. 
Who  can  ever  fathom  at  once  that  suffering 

and  that  love  ? 

H3 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

Is  not  motherhood  doubly  sacred  through 
its  travail  and  its  peril?  It  requires  birth 
pangs  to  beget  mother-love  with  its  tender- 
ness, its  patience,  its  joyous  self-sacrifices, 
its  lonely  vigils.  The  capacity  for  love  is 
found  in  the  capacity  for  suffering.  The 
capacity  for  service,  too,  is  found  in  the  ca- 
pacity for  suffering.  The  most  refractory 
metals  yield  their  best  strength  and  luster 
and  become  useful  only  after  the  fierce  heat 
of  the  blowpipe  has  smitten  them.  Some 
natures,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  need  to  hear  a 
higher  Voice  saying,  *'  I  will  show  him  how 
many  things  he  must  suffer  for  my  name's 
sake;  for  he  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to 
bear  my  name  before  the  Gentiles  and  kings, 
and  the  children  of  Israel."  The  chosen 
vessel  must  be  recast  in  a  different  mold  be- 
fore it  is  ready  for  such  kingly  service.  Had 
Moses  or  Paul  been  capable  of  less  suffering, 
they  could  never  have  been  molded  into  such 
chosen  vessels  of  service. 

Who  could  better  speak  of  the  sufferings 

of  Christ  and  the  glory  that   followed  than 

the  one  called  to  suffer  such  great  things  in 
144 


THE   SACRAMENT  OF  SUFFERING 

his  name?  From  Damascus,  where  he  was 
led  blind  into  the  city,  to  Rome,  where  he 
was  led  out  of  the  city  to  die,  Paul  knew 
what  suffering  meant.  From  Elj^mas  the 
sorcerer  to  Alexander  the  coppersmith,  he  is 
ever  encountering  the  children  of  the  devil. 
If  a  great  and  effectual  door  is  open  unto 
him,  it  is  beset  with  many  adversaries.  He 
must  fight  with  ''  beasts  at  Ephesus  "  before 
that  great  center  is  conquered.  A  prison 
and  stocks  are  just  behind  that  man  of  ?/Iac- 
edonia  who  calls,  **  Come  over  and  help  us." 
He  visits  Jerusalem  to  find  that  more  than 
forty  men  have  bound  themselves  with  an  oath 
that  they  will  neither  eat  nor  drink  until  they 
have  killed  Paul.  Years  of  his  valuable  life 
he  spends  in  prison  in  Csesarea  and  in  Rome. 
Before  his  shipwreck  on  his  way  to  Rome, 
he  wrote  to  the  Corinthians,  who  were  dis- 
paraging him,  how  that  he  was  *'in  labors 
more  abundantly,  in  prisons  more  abundant- 
ly, in  stripes  above  measure,  in  deaths  oft. 
Of  the  Jews  five  times  received  I  forty  stripes 
save   one.     Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods, 

once    was    stoned,    thrice    I    suffered    ship- 
lo  145 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

wreck,  a  day  and  a  night  have  I  been  in  the 
deep;  in  journeyings  often,  in  perils  of  riv- 
ers, in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  from  my 
countrymen,  in  perils  from  the  Gentiles,  in 
perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness, 
in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false 
brethren;  in  labor  and  travail,  in  watchings 
often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often, 
in  cold  and  nakedness.  Besides  those  things 
that  are  without,  there  is  that  which  presseth 
upon  me  daily — anxiety  for  all  the  churches. 
Who  is  weak  and  I  am  not  weak  ?  Who  is 
made  to  stumble  and  I  burn  not?'' 

How  much  it  takes  to  make  an  apostle  I 
Whitefield  was  wont  to  say  that  he  had  pe- 
culiar affection  for  Ireland,  for  only  there 
had  he  been  treated  like  an  apostle.  Only 
in  Ireland  had  he  ever  been  stoned. 

It  is   not  strange  that   now  and    then  the 

harpstrings  snap   as  they    are    being   drawn 

tight  enough  for  some  master's  hand  to  call 

from   them    the    sweetest    harmony.     Notes 

that  angels  might  listen  to,  and  which  thrill 

all   human    hearts,    come    from    heartstrings 

quivering  with  pain.     The  very  Captain  of 
146 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  SUFFERING 

our  salvation  must  be  made  perfect  through 
suffering  before  he  could  bring  many  sons 
unto  glory.  *'  Even  though  he  were  a  Son, 
he  learned  obedience  through  the  things  w^hich 
he  suffered." 

This  blessed  sacrament  of  suffering  con- 
veys the  needed  graces  of  discipHne,  and 
affords  the  opportunities  of  service,  even 
though  it  be  broken  to  us,  as  it  was  to  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles,  by  the  hands  of  wicked 
men. 

They  know  not  what  they  do  who  drive 
the  cruel  nails  and  thrust  the  thirsty  spear. 
They  may  mean  it  for  evil,  but  our  God 
overrules  it  for  good.  It  is  the  triumph  at 
once  of  suffering  and  of  grace  to  be  able  to 
say  with  Stephen — his  face  shining  like  an 
angel's — **  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge." 

Said  DisraeH,  that  acute  observer  of  hu- 
man nature;  *' They  that  have  known  grief 
seldom  seem  sad."  Said  a  wiser  than  he: 
**  Count  it  all  joy  when  ye  fall  into  divers 
trials;  for  the  trial  of  your  faith  worketh 
patience,  and  patience  experience,  and  expe- 
147 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

rience  hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed, 
for  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  your 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  is  given  unto 


148 


FAINTING  FITS. 


Arouse  thy  courage  ere  it  fails  and  faints; 
God  props  no  gospel  up  with  sinking  saints. 

— Langbridge 

The  night  has  a  thousand  eyes, 

And  the  day  but  one ; 
Yet  the  light  of  the  whole  world  dies 

With  the  setting  sun. 

The  mind  has  a  thousand  eyes, 

And  the  heart  but  one; 
Yet  the  light  of  the  whole  life  dies 

When  love  is  done. 


XI 

FAINTING  FITS. 

It  was  a  critical  moment  in  the  battle  with 
the  Philistines  when  *'  David  waxed  faint." 
The  mighty  leader  and  the  great  warrior, 
whose  victories  had  been  sung  by  a  devoted 
people  from  his  youth,  showed  the  infirmity 
of  approaching  age,  and  that  in  the  very 
midst  of  the  battle.  Happily  the  king's  faint- 
ness  was  seen  not  only  by  a  Philistine  ''giant, 
the  weight  of  whose  spear  was  three  hundred 
shekels  of  brass  in  weight,"  but  also  by  Abi- 
shai  who  succored  him.  Then  the  men  of 
David  sware  unto  him,  saying,  "Thou  shalt 
go  no  more  out  with  us  to  battle,  that  thou 
quench  not  the  lamp  of  Israel."  But  David 
strengthened  himself  in  the  Lord  his  God,  as 
he  did  once  before  when  some  of  these  very 
soldiers  wanted  to  stone  him  because  of  the 
loss  of  Ziglag,  during  his  absence,  and  the 
capture  of  their  wives  and  goods,  although 
David  himself  was  the  chief  sufferer.  He 
could  never  have  been  the  **  sweet  psalmist " 
151 


SKILLED    LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

without  such  experiences.  They  drove  him 
to  his  harp,  so  that  what  he  learned  in  suf- 
fering he  told  in  song.  David  knew  the  su- 
perannuate's  anguish  of  spirit  as  well  as  the 
father's  broken  heart  over  an  ambitious  and 
selfish  son  who  had  won  the  people's  hearts 
by  his  soft  promises.  Only  one  who  had 
cried,  '*0  Absalom,  my  son,  v/ould  God  I 
had  died  for  thee !"  could  ever  bring  out  the 
harp's  answer  to  the  deep  pathos  of  a  break- 
ing heart.  It  is  in  the  third  Psalm,  written 
when  he  fled  from  the  merciless  ambition  of 
his  son,  who  sought  both  the  throne  and  his 
father's  life,  that  mothers  find  the  cradle 
song  of  thirty  centuries.  ''I  laid  me  down 
and  slept ;  I  awaked ;  for  the  Lord  sustained 
me."  Whatever  the  suffering,  *' God  give th 
his  beloved  sleep,"  and  enables  him  to  say, 
*'I  will  both  lay  me  down  and  sleep;  for 
thou,  Lord,  alone  makest  me  dwell  in  safety." 
When  David  could  not  see  God's  face,  he 
trusted  under  the  shadow  of  his  wings. 

Fainting  fits  come  not  alone  to  the  weak, 
but  to  the  strong.  The  man  easily  discour- 
aged has  them  and  hides  his  Lord's  talent  in 


FAINTING  FITS 

the  earth,  excusing  himself  because  he  has 
a  hard  master.  But  it  is  the  strong  man  who 
suffers  most,  when,  after  his  zeal  has  out- 
stripped all  others,  in  his  very  solitude  he 
deems  himself  a  failure  compared  with  his 
noble  ideals.  Worn  out  with  his  consuming 
desire  not  to  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God, 
he  faints  under  the  juniper  tree  as  he  cries, 
**0  Lord,  take  away  my  life;  for  I  am  not 
better  than  my  fathers  !"  Elijah,  with  God's 
keys  at  his  girdle,  sleeps  under  that  juniper. 
His  name  is  oft  mentioned  among  the  sons  of 
God  as  was  Job's.  Angels  become  impatient 
for  his  company  ere  the  chariot  is  sent  for 
him  where  he  can  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 
But  now  they  must  feed  him,  touching  him 
ever  so  gently  and  reverentl}'  as  a  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  they  say  unto  him,  ''Arise 
and  eat."  As  he  falls  asleep  again,  the 
heavy  slumber  of  despair  changes  into  the 
sweet,  restful  sleep  of  conscious  protection 
and  love  which  makes  him  ready  for  his  long 
journey,  and  for  that  great  work  which  had 
strained  all  the  energies  of  his  mighty  spirit. 
His  v/as  the  bow  of  Ulj^sses,  which  only  a 
153 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE    MASTEPL 

giant  could  bend,  but  it  had  been  bent  too 
long.  Before  it  could  be  used  again,  it  must 
be  unstrung  and  allowed  to  rest.  Unless  the 
blood  can  be  drawn  away  from  that  over- 
charged brain,  the  hungry  nerves  will  set  up 
their  clamor  that  is  worse  to  bear  than  death. 
The  most  helpless  and  pitiable  men  are  those 
fine  natures  who  suffer  from  nervous  prostra- 
tion, the  penalty  of  overwork,  which  seemed 
necessary  to  do  the  best  work. 

''All  men  of  genius  are  of  a  melancholy 
temperament,"  said  Aristotle,  whose  pro- 
found studies  of  human  nature  give  author- 
ity to  all  his  words.  "A  more  than  ordinary 
depth  of  thought  produces  the  melancholy 
temperament,"  because  such  minds  move 
among  the  solemnities,  the  mysteries,  and  the 
awful  issues  of  life.  It  requires  substances 
to  cast  shadows  such  as  Dante  paints.  It  is 
one  of  Pascal's  brain  and  temperament  who 
can  think  his  ''Thoughts."  Cromwell  and 
Milton  were  kindred  spirits  alike  in  tempera- 
ment and  in  thinking  on  the  greatest  themes 
of  divine  and  human  government.  "A  pe- 
culiar vein  of  constitutional  sadness  belongs 
154 


FAINTING   FITS 

to  the  Greek  temperament,"  is  the  estimate 
of  a  profound  student  at  once  of  Greek 
thought  and  of  Greek  temperament.  It  was 
this  which  gave  birth  to  great  tragedies,  that 
delighted  in  mighty  epics,  and  made  possi- 
ble great  orators  who  must  always  deal  with 
real  issues.  But  when  a  man's  brain  dwells 
on  the  great,  even  awe-inspiring,  realities  be- 
cause impelled  by  the  love  of  truth,  it  is  not 
strange  that  often  the  very  face  shows  it. 
Men  pointed  to  Dante  in  silence,  and  chil- 
dren whispered,  "There  goes  the  man  who 
has  been  in  hell."  No  one  could  have  writ- 
ten the  Inferno  except  a  genius  of  the  high- 
est order,  who  paid  the  penalty  in  the  very 
lines  of  his  face. 

Not  from  a  vain  or  shallow  thought 
His  awful  Jove  young  Phidias  brought; 
Never  from  lips  of  cunning  fell 
The  thrilling  Delphic  oracle. 

It  is  highly  organized  natures  that  suffer 
most  from  fainting  fits.  John  the  Baptist, 
whose  clear  vision  enabled  him  to  point  out 
the  Christ  amidst  the  multitude  that  surged 
about  him,  and  who  had  seen  the  Holy  Spirit 
155 


SKILLED    LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

descend  like  a  dove  and  rest  upon  Jesus,  is 
one  day,  when  his  health  is  low  from  the 
foul  prison  air,  to  send  messengers  who 
might  hear  from  the  very  lips  of  the  Lord 
whether  he  were  indeed  the  Christ.  A 
phlegmatic  temperament  would  have  been 
unconcerned  about  it.  That  is  the  kind  that 
has  few  doubts,  because  it  has  little  real 
light  with  which  to  contrast  the  shadows. 
John  had  once  known,  and  he  could  not  live 
without  that  knowledge  again.  Richard 
Watson  was  such  a  nature.  A  certain  lofti- 
ness and  vastness  of  thought,  marked  by  the 
severest  taste  and  a  solemn  dignity,  belonged 
to  all  the  sermons  of  this  great  mind.  Yet 
this  delicate  instrument  would  sometimes  get 
so  out  of  tune  that  on  one  occasion  he  pro- 
nounced the  benediction  at  the  conclusion  of 
his  opening  prayer.  When  invited  by  New- 
ton to  preach  on  a  special  occasion  in  Liver- 
pool, he  wrote:  *'  I  have  no  nerves,  no  confi- 
dence, no  sermon  adapted  to  any  such  occa- 
sion, and  no  hope  of  getting  one.  If  you 
knew   how   often    I    have    disappointed    and 

failed  in  the  last  six  years,  and  the  tortures 
156 


FAINTING  FITS 

inflicted  upon  me  by  the  kind  partiality  of 
my  friends  putting  me  forward  to  stations  for 
which  I  have  no  adaptation,  3^ou  would  leave 
me  alone."  It  was  because  he  was  not  a 
wooden  man  that  he  was  so  great  a  preacher. 
Had  he  never  suffered  from  failure,  he  had 
never  reached  such  marvelous  heights  of 
eloquence.  Luther's  sufferings  were  due 
largely  to  the  same  capacity  to  achieve  great 
results.  No  man  can  sway  Luther's  audi- 
ences who  cannot  somehow  say  with  Luther: 
**I  am  now  an  old  man,  but  I  have  never 
gone  into  the  pulpit  without  my  knees  knock- 
ing together."  It  is  one  conscious  of  infirm- 
ities who  claims  the  Spirit  that  helpeth  our 
infirmities.  Robert  Hall,  the  greatest  preach- 
er of  his  times,  was  the  acutest  sufferer  as 
well  from  the  reaction  which  followed  his 
wonderful  sermons,  declaring  at  times  that 
he  would  never  preach  again. 

The  faithful  preacher  who  has  put  his  best 
self  into  his  week's  preparation  for  the  Sab- 
bath, and  spared  himself  no  less  in  preach- 
ing, is  so  spent  that  he  resigns  his  charge 
every  Sunday  night.  His  Monday  letters 
157 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

represent  him  at  the  lowest  ebb.  He  is 
empty  almost  of  every  grace,  and  thinks  it 
must  have  surely  been  a  *'blue  Monday" 
when  Elijah  thought  that  he  alone  had  not 
bowed  the  knee  to  Baal  and  that  he  was  not 
fit  to  live.  He  lives  in  the  **  accusative  case  " 
during  much  of  every  Monday  following  a 
Sabbath  of  his  best  work,  forgetting  what 
Burke  says:  "He  that  accuses  all  the  world 
condemns  himself."  He  has  been  spinning 
like  a  top  under  a  pressure  which,  removed, 
leaves  him  to  stagger.  What  does  he  need? 
More  applied  force?  No;  just  the  opposite. 
He  needs  a  rest  day,  a  veritable  Sabbath  of 
his  own  in  which  he  shall  do  no  manner  of 
work.  It  were  better  if  he  had  taken  such  a 
day  on  Saturday,  and  so  not  have  reached 
such  a  state  of  exhaustion;  and  as  he  gets 
older  he  will  do  so  if  he  is  wise.  Let  his  rest 
day  be  spent  as  much  as  possible  in  the  open 
air,  to  oxygenate  his  blood.  Happy  is  he  if 
his  employment  be  as  different  as  possible 
from  what  it  has  been  in  those  busy  days  of 
pulpit  preparation.  Dr.  Cuyler  was  wont  to 
say  that  he  always  felt  on  Monday  *'like  a 
158 


FAINTING  FITS, 

squeezed  lemon/'  He  who  has  nothing  more 
to  give  out  should  take  time  to  fill  up.  The 
mighty  tides  of  the  sea  would  cease  to  flow 
if  they  did  not  take  time  to  ebb.  Let  the 
preacher  go  out  as  far  as  he  can  on  the  ebb 
tide,  that  he  may  be  ready  to  come  in  on  the 
flood.  Then  when  the  brain  is  rested,  and 
the  nerves  fed,  and  Monday  night  makes  up 
for  the  attack  of  ''wonders"  on  Sunday 
night,  Tuesday  morning  wiU  find  him  more 
eager  for  work  than  ever.  He  wifl  lay  the 
keel  of  a  new  sermon  before  high  noon,  and 
believe  again  in  the  doctrine  of  assurance. 
Dr.  Addison  Alexander  was  one  of  God's 
saints  whose  "fainting  fits"  came  wdth  the 
east  wind,  so  trying  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 
When  asked  if  he  believed  in  the  doctrine  of 
assurance,  he  replied:  "Yes,  except  when 
the  east  wind  blows."  Such  a  man  is  apt  to 
be  the  victim  of  oversensitiveness. 

Most  preachers  will  find  that  it  is  their 
Monday  speeches  as  well  as  letters  that  are 
fullest  of  dynamite.  "The  kick  that  scarce 
would  move  a  horse  would  kiU  a  sound  di- 
vine." Satan  sometimes  finds  a  Monday 
159 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

morning  preachers'  meeting  a  splendid  place 
to  start  a  row.  The  tired  man,  no  less  than 
the  lazy  man,  tempts  the  devil.  To  be  fore- 
warned is  to  be  forearmed.  Verily,  we  have 
this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels.  The  minis- 
ter, as  much  as  the  physician,  needs  to  know 
well  the  limits  of  his  physical  strength,  and 
to  keep  away  from  the  danger  line.  A  thor- 
oughly exhausted  man  never  recovers.  The 
remaining  assets  are  too  few  to  resume  busi- 
ness with,  and  he  is  ready  for  the  hands  of  a 
receiver. 

Moses's  hands  grew  heavy  even  in  prayer, 
and  he  would  have  fainted  had  not  the 
Lord  appointed  Aaron  and  Hur  to  stand 
on  either  side.  This  is  the  divine  pro- 
vision for  such  fainting  spells.  Elijah  must 
have  his  Elisha,  David  his  iVhithophel,  Paul 
his  Timothy.  Even  Jesus  turned  to  his 
disciples  in  the  hours  of  inexpressible  lone- 
liness in  Gethsemane.  He  who  had  so  care- 
fully guarded  even  these  rugged  fishermen 
from  exhaustion,  bidding  them  *'come  apart 
into  a   desert  place    and    rest    awhile,"   saw 

them  willing  in  spirit  but  weak  in  flesh,  and 
i6o 


FAINTING  FITS 

SO  would  not  awaken  them  from  that  slumber 
which  they  so  much  needed  to  prepare  them 
for  the  morrow  with  its  awful  trial  of  their 
faith.  Nay,  before  dawn  one  of  them  should 
deny  that  he  knew  Jesus.  *'  Simon,  when 
thou  art  converted,  recovered  to  the  right 
way,  strengthen  thy  brethren."  This  is  ever 
the  mission  of  the  disciple,  to  strengthen 
feeble  hands  and  confirm  feeble  knees. 
When  Mrs.  Browning  onCe  asked  Charles 
Kingsley  the  secret  of  his  joyous  life,  he  re- 
plied: "  I  had  a  friend."  A  kindred  spirit 
our  Lord  provided  for  each  of  his  disciples 
as  he  sent  them  out  two  and  tv/o.  Their 
very  names  appear  in  pairs,  for  in  God's 
arithmetic  two  are  ten  times  more  than  one. 
**  Else  how  could  one  of  you  chase  a  thou- 
sand, and  two  of  you  put  ten  thousand  to 
flight?  "  A  kindred  spirit,  appealing  to  the 
best  that  is  in  you  and  to  whom  you  can 
open  your  very  heart,  is  a  priceless  boon  to 
the  man  of  God  who  otherwise  might  faint 
by  the  way.  One  must  he  such  a  friend  to 
have  such  a  friend.     If  Judas  sinks  like  lead 

in  the  company  of  good  men,  always  appear- 
II  i6i 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

ing  last  in  the  list  of  the  apostles,  it  is  be- 
cause he  neither  gave  forth  anything  nor 
seemed  receptive  of  anything,  even  with  the 
Lord  himself  as  the  giver.  He  liked  the 
excitement  of  Galilee  as  much  as  he  was 
lacking  in  the  quiet  faith  needed  in  Judea. 
Our  Lord  cared  more  for  a  grain  of  faith 
than  a  ton  of  excitement.  *'  Have  ye  not  yet 
faith?"  But  faith  in  God  means  faith  in 
man.  Judas  lacked  both.  He  passes  out  of 
sight  unloved  of  man  or  woman,  and  unwept. 
The  last  prop  of  human  sympathy  gone,  his 
brain  reels  and  his  heart  breaks  in  the  end- 
less remorse  of  a  traitor's  doom. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  Son  of  David  died 
with  the  words  of  the  psalmist  on  his  lips. 
Next  to  our  Lord's  Gethsemane  is  David's. 
What  a  fainting  fit  was  David's  when  his  own 
familiar  friend,  his  companion  with  whom  he 
oft  took  sweet  counsel,  walking  in  the  house 
of  God  together,  proved  a  traitor  and  put 
both  his  throne  and  life  in  peril!  Whom 
could  he  trust  now? 

My  heart  is  sore  pained  within  me; 
And  the  terrors  of  death  are  fallen  upon  me, 
162 


FAINTING  FITS 

Fearfulness  and  trembling  are  come  upon  me, 
And  horror  hath  overwhelmed  me. 
And  I  said,  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove! 
Then  would  I  flj  away,  and  be  at  rest. 

Ahithophel  the  traitor,  like  Judas,  ends 
his  own  wretched  life,  each  being  his  own 
hangman.  David's  faith  shaken  in  men 
turns  the  more  to  God,  as  did  Paul  when 
Demas  forsook  him,  having  loved  the  pres- 
ent world.  They  made  up  what  was  lack- 
ing of  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  This  makes 
a  true  man  of  God. 

**He  makes  no  friend  who  never  made  a 

foe."     The  men  who  bind  others  to  them  by 

hooks    of    steel,    as    did    David    when    men 

risked  their  lives  to  give  him  a  drink  of  the 

well  of  Bethlehem  that  was  by  the  gate,  are 

men  whom  you  can  judge  by  their  enemies 

no  less  than  by  their  friends.     We  love  such 

men  for  the  enemies  that  they  have  made. 

The  bitterest  enemy  of  Washington  was  Tom 

Paine.     No  wonder  **  Great   Heart"  longed 

again  for  the  repose  of  Mt.  Vernon,  and  in 

his  fainting  spells,  such  as   David  had,  was 

tempted  to  regret  that  he  had  ever  consented 
163 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

to  leave  its  quiet  shades.  But  it  is  in  such 
fires  that  the  gold  of  character  is  both  re- 
fined and  tested.  Nor  can  any  minister  of 
God  do  his  best  work  without  such  expe- 
riences which  enable  him  to  say:  **  Blessed 
be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Father  of  mercies  and  God  of 
all  comfort;  who  comforteth  us  in  all  our  af- 
fliction, that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort 
them  that  are  in  any  affliction,  through 
the  comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  are 
comforted  of  God.  For  as  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  abound  unto  us,  even  so  our 
comfort  also  aboundeth  through  Christ."  It 
was  Peter  and  James  and  John  who  were 
to  be  the  most  eminently  useful  of  all  the 
Twelve,  who  shared  his  Gethsemane  with 
their  Lord.  God  cannot  trust  any  but  his 
chosen  in  the  fiery  furnace  or  the  lion's 
den.  **If  ye  drink  the  cup  that  I  shall 
drink,  ye  shall  sit  on  my  right  hand  and  on 

my  left/' 

.64 


THE  GUEST  OF  GOD. 


To  me  remains  nor  place  nor  time, 
My  country  is  in  every  clime; 
I  can  be  calm  and  free  from  care 
On  any  shore,  since  God  is  there. 
While  place  we  seek  or  place  we  shun, 
The  soul  finds  happiness  in  none; 
But,  with  a  God  to  guide  our  way, 
'Tis  equal  joy  to  go  or  stay. 

Then  whatsoever  wind  doth  blow. 
My  heart  is  glad  to  have  it  so: 
And  blow  it  east  or  blow  it  west, 
The  wind  that  blows,  that  wind  is  best. 


XII 

THE  GUEST  OF  GOD. 

It  is  easy  to  be  reconciled  to  a  man  being 
called  great  when  he  is  known  to  be  great  in 
faith  as  well  as  in  achievements,  so  that  men 
call  him  both  *^  great  "  and  ' '  saint. ' '  Such  was 
the  case  with  St.  Basil  the  Great,  who  honored 
the  fourth  century  as  much  as  his  fellow-stu- 
dent at  Athens,  Julian  the  Apostate,  dishon- 
ored it.  Born  of  a  wealthy  and  pious  family, 
enjoying  the  finest  training  of  his  day,  even 
at  the  feet  of  Libanius,  whose  personal  esteem 
he  so  completely  won,  as  did  also  John  Chrys- 
ostom,  his  early  manhood  gave  promise  of 
that  life  of  consecration  and  great  influence 
that  finally  led  to  his  being  canonized.  Speak- 
ing of  his  student  life  in  Athens,  he  says  of 
Gregory  Nazianzen  and  himself :  ' '  We  knew 
only  two  streets  of  the  city :  the  first  and  more 
excellent  one  to  the  churches,  and  to  the  min- 
isters of  the  altar;  the  other  to  the  public 
schools,  and  to  the  teachers  of  the  sciences. 

The  streets  to  the  theaters,  games,  and  places 
167 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

of  amusement  we  left  to  others.  Our  holi- 
ness was  our  great  concern ;  our  sole  aim  was 
to  be  called  and  to  be  Christians.  In  this  we 
placed  our  whole  glory."  As  metropolitan 
of  all  Cappadocia,  he  gave  himself  personal- 
ly and  through  his  fifty  bishops  to  banishing 
and  putting  away  all  erroneous  and  strange 
doctrines  contrary  to  God's  word.  When  the 
Emperor  Valens,  through  his  prefects,  threat- 
ened the  good  bishop  with  confiscation,  ban- 
ishment, and  death,  Basil  responded :  * '  Noth- 
ing more?  Not  one  of  these  things  touches 
me.  His  property  cannot  be  forfeited  who 
has  none;  banishment  I  know  not,  for  I  am 
restricted  to  no  place,  and  am  the  guest  of  God 
to  whom  the  whole  earth  belongs;  for  mar- 
tyrdom I  am  unfit,  but  death  is  a  benefactor 
to  me,  for  it  sends  me  more  quickly  to  God 
to  whom  I  live  and  move."  But  emperor  and 
prefect  found  that  nothing  could  intimidate 
such  a  man ;  and  before  the  cruel  edict  could 
be  enforced,  emperor  and  prefect  both  sought 
the  good  man's  prayers  for  the  recover}?-  of 
either  themselves  or  their  families  from  dan- 
gerous sickness.  Great  as  pulpit  orator,  aft- 
i68 


THE  GUEST  OF   GOD 

er  the  best  Greek  standards,  and  as  a  theolo- 
gian, he  was  even  greater  as  a  saint.  He  was 
a  guest  of  God  whose  name  was  well  known 
in  the  court  of  heaven. 

How  absolutely  Christ  assumes  the  care  of 
all  who  trust  him !  At  the  last  Supper  he  re- 
minded his  disciples  of  the  rewards  of  that  ab- 
solute trust:  '*  When  I  sent  you  forth  with- 
out purse,  and  wallet,  and  shoes,  lacked  ye 
anything?  And  they  said.  Nothing."  Was 
ever  a  father  more  considerate  of  the  physic- 
al needs  of  his  children?  Alone  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret,  the  mutter- 
ing thunder  arrests  his  very  prayer  as  he 
thinks  of  the  peril  of  his  disciples  who  have 
gone  over  the  boisterous  sea.  John,  who  w^as 
no  inexperienced  sailor,  said  it  was  ''a  great 
wind";  and  Matthew  says  *' the  wind  was 
contrary,"  and  ''the  boat  was  now  in  the 
midst  of  the  sea,  distressed  by  the  waves. *' 
But  in  that  memorable  fourth  watch  of  the 
night,  about  three  o'clock,  when  their  peril 
seemed  greatest,  came  Jesus  walking  upon 
the  sea,  saying  to  their  affrighted  spirits  who 

thought  that  they  saw  an  apparition,  '*Be  of 
169 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

good  cheer;  it  is  I;  be  not  afraid.''  On  yes- 
terday Jesus  had  fed  them,  together  with  the 
five  thousand,  taking  the  contents  of  a  lunch 
basket  which  a  healthy  lad  with  a  good  appe- 
tite was  thoughtful  enough  to  take  with  him 
when  he  went  on  that  excursion  (how  often 
some  lad  holds  the  key  to  the  situation !),  un- 
til they  gathered  up  twelve  baskets  of  frag- 
ments about  the  table  of  this  bountiful  host 
(bountiful  as  at  the  wedding  feast  in  Cana), 
who  only  had  one  basketful  to  start  with. 
And  now  the  Lord  is  as  concerned  for  their 
safety  in  the  storm  as  he  was  to  satisfy  their 
hunger.  Were  his  disciples  weary  after  their 
many  labors  when  **  they  came  and  told  Jesus 
whatsoever  they  had  done,  and  whatsoever 
they  had  taught"?  Their  thoughtful  Master 
said,  *'  Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a  desert 
place^  and  rest  a  while."  Are  they  overcome 
by  sleep  during  the  night-watches  in  Gethsem- 
ane?  Much  as  he  needs  them,  he  will  not 
disturb  them  who  will  have  need  of  all  possi- 
ble rest  before  the  awful  tests  of  the  morrow. 
**  Sleep  on  now,    and  take  your  rest.     The 

spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak." 
170 


THE   GUEST  OF   GOD 

Is  he  making  ready  the  two  disciples  to  re- 
turn the  whole  threescore  furlongs  from  Em- 
maus  to  Jerusalem  with  the  tidings  of  his  res- 
urrection? He  lets  them  eat  first,  and  makes 
himself  known  unto  them  in  the  breaking  of 
bread.  They  could  not  have  eaten  after  that 
for  very  joy,  and  they  have  a  long  journey  on 
which  love  unbidden  is  about  to  send  them. 
He  who  fed  Elijah  and  bade  him  sleep  again, 
and  as  he  was  about  to  waken  touched  him 
gently  the  second  time  and  said,  ''Arise  and 
eat;  because  the  journey  is  too  great  for 
thee,"  until  he  went  in  the  strength  of  that 
meat  forty  days  and  forty  nights  unto  Horeb 
the  mount  of  God,  feeds  well  all  his  guests, 
especially  if  they  are  also  his  messengers. 

It  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  Bishop  Mar- 
vin, one  morning  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  as  the 
fishermen  were  about  to  row  us  over  the  lake, 
when  one  of  the  company  said,  "  Children, 
have  ye  any  meat?"  Who  but  our  Lord 
could  have  asked  that  question  of  his  disciples 
after  their  night  of  fruitless  toil,  and  could 
bid  them  cast  their  net  on  the  right  side  of 

the  boat  where  they  should  find  ?     No  wonder 
171 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

the  disciple  that  Jesus  loved  said  unto  Peter, 
It  is  the  Lord.  Again,  as  at  Emmaus,  Jesus 
is  made  known  unto  his  disciples  after  his  res- 
urrection in  breaking  of  bread ;  for  when  they 
dragged  their  nets,  full  of  fishes,  to  the  land, 
**they  saw  there  a  fire  of  coals,  and  fish  laid 
thereon,  and  bread;  and  Jesus  saith  unto 
them.  Come  and  break  your  fast."  It  was 
not  enough  to  fill  their  net;  Jesus  must  be 
their  host,  and  show  them  once  more  before 
his  ascension  what  it  meant  to  be  a  guest  of 
God.  Doubly  sacred  must  the  fish  have  been 
as  a  symbol  of  our  Lord — the  ichthus  not  only 
embodying  the  sacred  letters  of  his  name  as 
the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  men,  but 
reminding  them  of  that  fish  taken  in  no  hu- 
man net  which  awaited  his  disciples  on  that 
glad  morning  by  the  sea.  The  early  Chris- 
tians associated  with  it  a  meaning  that  was  al- 
most sacramental.  Rich  heathen  used  it  on 
their  monuments  as  a  symbol  of  plenty,  the 
ample  harvest  of  the  sea  having  made  them 
prosperous  in  life.  Christians  used  it  as  tell- 
ing of  one  who  had  given  his  own  flesh  as  a 

daily  sacrament,  and  at  whose  command  the 
172 


THE   GUEST  OF  GOD 

sea,  that  great  source  of  wealth  to  the  Ro- 
mans, had  supplied  both  the  tribute  money 
and  the  needed  food  for  hungr}^  saints.  As 
password  and  symbol,  even  in  the  sand,  when 
the  spoken  word  might  betray  them,  and  as  a 
hieroglyph  on  their  tombs  in  the  catacombs, 
it  told  alike  of  their  Lord  and  of  his  disciples 
whom  he  called  everywhere  to  be  fishers  of 
men.  The  one  thing  that  he  asked  of  them 
was  to  trust  him  absolutely. 

It  is  a  beautiful  blending  of  figures  in  the 
Shepherd  Psalm  when  the  good  shepherd  be- 
comes a  host.  "  Thou  preparest  me  a  table 
in  the  presence  of  mine  enemies:  thou  hast 
anointed  my  head  with  oil;  my  cup  runneth 
over."  Not  one  duty  of  the  host  is  left  un- 
performed, even  though  the  table  be  in  the 
presence  of  one's  enemies.  How  easy  the 
transition  to  **  surely  goodness  and  mercy 
shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life ;  and  I 
will  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  forever." 
Can  he  who  has  gone  to  prepare  a  place  for 
us  be  unmindful  of  us  while  he  is  gone? 
The  shepherd  goes  in  and  out  to  find  pasture. 
The  prison  doors  are  thrown  open  in  far-off 
173 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

Philippi  as  well  as  in  Jerusalem.  Paul  and 
Silas  can  sing  praises  in  Macedonia,  even 
though  their  feet  be  made  fast  in  the  stocks, 
while  Peter  sleefs  between  the  two  soldiers  to 
whom  he  is  chained,  nor  "  bitterly  thinks  of 
the  morrow."  Paul  tells  the  shipwrecked 
sailors  in  the  Adriatic,  "  There  stood  by  me 
this  night  an  angel  of  God  whose  I  am  and 
whom  I  serve,  saying,  Fear  not  Paul;  thou 
must  stand  before  Cagsar;  and  lo,  God  hath 
granted  thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee. 
Wherefore,  sirs,  be  of  good  cheer;  for  I  be- 
lieve God,  that  it  shall  be  even  so  as  it  hath 
been  spoken  unto  me."  Who  is  the  trium- 
phant hero  thanking  God  and  taking  courage 
as  he  approaches  the  city  to  which  he  has  so 
long  asked  God  to  give  him  a  prosperous  voy- 
age ?  The  guest  of  God  who,  as  from  a  palace, 
soon  writes  back  to  the  brethren  in  Philippi, 
*'Allthe  saints  salute  you,  especially  they  that 
are  of  Caesar's  household. ' '  No  wonder  Nero 
saw  that  the  eternal  city  was  not  large  enough 
to  hold  such  a  mighty  spirit,  and  from  the  prison 
walls  Paul  ascended  to  the  freedom  of  the 
city  of  God.  But  Paul  can  scarce  be  more  at 
174 


THE   GUEST   OF  GOD 

home  with  his  Lord  now  than  when  he  knew 
himself  to  be  a  guest  of  God  on  earth. 

What  strange  guest-chambers  has  our  God  ! 
In  the  *' cleft  of  the  rock"  he  hid  Moses  and 
Elijah  in  the  mountains  as  he  hid  Paul  and 
Bunyan  and  Luther  in  later  years  in  the  city 
and    town    where    man's  skill  had  prepared 
*'the  munition  of  rocks,"  which  they  called 
a  prison-house.     Felix  of  Nola  he   hid  in  a 
cave  in  the  mountain  side,  and  when  his  ene- 
mies   sought   his   life    God   sent   a   spider  to 
weave  his  web  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  so 
that  his  guest  slept  in  safety  behind  that  silk- 
en   curtain.     Hence    the  w^atchword  of   the 
early  Christians  who  knew  the  story:    "Where 
God  is,    a   spider's  web   is   a  wall.     Where 
God  is  not,  a   wall  is   but  a  spider's  web." 
The  guest-chamber  for  God's  most  favored 
guests  is  his  Son's  own  chamber,  the  one  last 
occupied   by  Jesus  when  he  was  led  **from 
prison"    to   the  judgment  hall.     Here  were 
enthroned  the  seven  bishops  who  were  cast 
into  prison  for  conscience  sake  by  the  tyran- 
nical House  of  Stuart,  while  the  voices  that 
shook  all  England  were  heard  chanting: 
175 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

And  shall  Trelawnej  die?  and  shall  Trelawnej  die? 
Then  thirty  thousand  Cornish  men  shall  know  the  rea- 
son why. 

And  the  very  miners  from  their  caverns  re- 
echoed the  song  with  a  variation : 

Then  twenty  thousand  under  ground  shall  know  the  rea- 
son why. 

How  different  the  voices  heard  by  Latimer 
and  Ridley  before  they  went  forth  from  that 
same  guest-chamber  to  the  eternal  mansions, 
or  those  heard  by  God's  dear  Son  as  he  as- 
cended the  hill  that  is  called  Calvary,  although 
there  were  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels 
within  earshot,  awaiting  the  King's  command. 
The  King's  gardens  are  full  of  paths  all 
ordered  by  the  King  himself.  They  are  the 
ways  of  pleasantness  and  the  paths  of  peace. 
They  all  form  part  of  the  way  to  heaven. 
The  guest  may  be  sometimes  bewildered 
until  he  hears  some  pilgrim  yet  beyond 
calmly  singing,  "Thou  wilt  show  me  the 
path  of  life."  Then  he  knows  that  the  steps 
of  a  good  man  are  all  ordered  of  the  Lord, 
and  he  delighteth  in  his  way.  All  things 
are  yours,  and  ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is 


THE   GUEST   OF   GOD 

God's.  To  be  God's,  to  have  the  mark  of  his 
ownership,  is  to  have  the  pledge  of  his  care. 
**  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  For 
them  all  things  exist,  because  they  are  Christ's, 
for  whom  are  all  things  and  by  w^hom  are  all 
things.  Fear  not,  little  flock;  it  is  your  Fa- 
ther's good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom. 
So  it  has  ever  been  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  Its  greatest  achievements  have 
been  by  faith.  Not  by  the  thirty-two  thou- 
sand, not  even  by  the  ten  thousand,  gathered 
about  Gideon,  but  by  the  three  hundred,  are 
the  host  of  Midian  overthrown.  The  men 
who  trust  God  absolutely  are  the  men  whom 
God  trusts  absolutely.  They  are  ''The 
King's  Own,"  with  whom  he  goes  out  to 
battle.  Our  Lord  did  not  commit  himself  to 
men,  it  was  said  in  the  earlier  part  of  his 
ministry,  for  he  knew  what  was  in  men. 
But  when  they  no  longer  looked  simply  for 
the  signs  which  he  did,  but  were  ready  to 
follow  him  even  to  prison  and  unto  death,  as 
after  Pentecost,  he  trusted  them  absolutely, 
and  angels  became  their  ministering  serv- 
ants.    He  rebuked  kings  for  their  sakes,  say- 

12  177 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE    MASTER 

ing,  "  Touch  not  mine  anointed,  and  do  my 
prophets  no  harm."  The  best  that  was  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  came  through  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi  and  his  mendicant  friars.  Wyclif 
and  his  Lollards  were  raised  up  to  rebuke  a 
corrupt  priesthood  such  as  dishonored  the 
Church  which  St.  Francis  had  built  up  by 
an  agency  like  that  now  called  into  being  to 
reform  it.  Then  came  Wesley  and  his  itin- 
erants to  do  again  the  work  of  St.  Francis 
and  of  Wyclif,  the  same  humble  agents  un- 
der like  noble  leadership,  but  all  showing  a 
devotion  inspired  by  absolute  faith.  By 
such  men  of  faith,  be  they  many  or  few,  God 
carries  on  his  work  in  the  world.  They  are 
his  soldiers  who  entangle  not  themselves  in 
the  affairs  of  this  life  that  they  may  please 
him  who  hath  called  them  to  be  soldiers. 

The  Lord  our  host !  Every  place  on 
earth  a  guest-chamber,  with  each  guest  at 
the  same  distance  from  the  bending  heavens 
covering  all  like  a  canopy  I  Was  there  ever 
such  a  host,  coming  so  far  to  meet  his  guests, 
giving  them  the  bread  and  drink  of  heaven, 

and   watching  ever   while   they   sleep,   their 
178 


THE    GUEST  OF   GOD 

shelter  the    shadow    of    his    wings?     EHjah, 
bearing  the   keys  of    heaven    at   thy  girdle, 
when  God  sent  famine  and  Israel  mourned 
for  three  years  because  of  their  sins,   didst 
thou   lack    anything?      Nothing.     The    very 
ravens  which   neglect   their    own  young,   so 
that  they   suffer    hunger,    brought    me    both 
bread  and  meat,  while  a  widow,  even  among 
the  Gentiles,  shared  with  me  the  handful  of 
meal  that  did  not  v/aste  and  the  cruse  of  oil 
that   did   not  fail;    and   I  awoke   one  morn- 
ing in   the   desert  to  find  that  my  God  had 
sent  an  angel  with  a   cruse  of  water  and  a 
cake  baken  on  the  coals,  and  I  w^ent  in  the 
strength  of  that  meat  for  more  than  a  month 
to   Horeb,  the  mount  of  God.     Paul,  when 
a  prisoner  in   Rome  and    appointed   to  die, 
didst  thou  lack  anything?    Nothing.    While  I 
dreaded  the  cold  prison  without  my  cloak, 
which  I  had  left  at  Troas,  and  begged  Timothy 
to  use  all  diligence  and  bring  it  to  me  before 
winter,  yet  before  I  needed  it  I  was  absent 
from  the  body  and  forever  with    the  Lord. 
John  Wesley,  bearing  in  thy  body,  like  Paul, 

the  marks   of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  cruel  mobs 
179 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

stoned  thee  even  as  thou  didst  preach,  how 
can  Southey  say  of  thee,  **  His  manners  were 
irresistibly  winning,  and  his  countenance 
like  perpetual  sunshine  "  ?  How  is  it  in  per- 
ils in  the  wilderness,  and  in  perils  in  the 
city,  and  among  false  brethren,  thou  couldst 
say,  **  I  have  never  known  lowness  of  spirits 
as  much  as  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  all  my 
life,''  until  morbidly  scrupulous  Thomas 
Walsh  complained  that  thy  witty  proverbs 
tempted  him  to  levity?  Didst  thou  lack 
nothing  in  Cornwall  when  for  three  weeks, 
with  only  a  greatcoat  for  thy  pillow,  thou 
didst  sleep  every  night  on  a  bare  floor,  until 
thou  didst  have  only  one  whole  side  left,  the 
skin  being  rubbed  off  the  other?  Nothing, 
nothing!  Why,  the  Son  of  man  had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head.  While  I  breakfasted  off 
of  blackberries  by  the  wayside,  Jesus  break- 
fasted off  of  a  fig  tree  and  ate  the  corn,  rubbing 
it  in  his  hands,  as  he  passed  through  the 
cornfields  with  his  disciples.  It  is  enough  that 
the  disciple  be  as  his  master,  the  servant  as 
his  lord.     Tell  my  brethren  everywhere  that 

the  true  itinerant  is  the  guest  of  God. 
i8o 


«*  LETTING  THE  LIGHT  SHINE." 


Heaven  does  with  us  as  we  with  torches  do  do; 
Not  light  them  for  themselves. 

— Shakespeare. 

I  beheld 
From  eye  to  eye  thro'  all  their  order  flash 
A  momentary  likeness  to  their  King. 

— Tennyson. 


XIII 

"LETTING  THE  LIGHT  SHINE." 

Christ's  greatest  work  was  his  character, 
and  so  is  the  preacher's.  The  best  commen- 
tary on  the  Bible  the  world  has  ever  seen  is 
a  holy  life;  it  even  illuminates  and  beautifies 
the  sacred  text. 

Said  John,  the  golden-mouthed  (Chrysos- 
tom),  * 'Nothing  makes  a  man  so  illustrious  as 
the  manifestation  of  virtue ;  for  he  shines  as 
if  clad  with  sunbeams."  But  one  cannot  shine 
unless  he  be  luminous.  All  theories  of  light 
require  a  luminous  body.  Light  is  part  of  that 
kind  of  energy  known  as  radiant  energy,  and 
possesses  a  marvelous  velocity  where  the  con- 
ditions are  favorable;  but  there  must  be  a 
luminous  body  whence  this  radiant  energy 
comes.  The  light  must  first  be  in.  the  body 
before  it  can  be  transmitted.  The  Christian's 
light  is  alike  constant  and  far-reaching,  ac- 
cording to  the  graces  which  make  him  lu- 
minous. 

He  who  said,*'  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world," 
183 


SKILLED    LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

also  said,  **Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world." 
The  source  of  the  world's  light  in  either  case 
is  the  same;  for  ours  is  a  derived,  a  reflected 
light.  Our  graces  of  character  are  like  the 
rays  which  illumined  the  face  of  Moses  when 
he  came  down  from  the  mount  of  God;  they 
are  but  a  reflection  of  the  light  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  God  shining  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  graces  come  from  his 
grace.  Like  the  stars  (planets),  our  light 
comes  from  looking  upon  the  glorious  face  of 
the  sun.  If  we  have  an}^  power  to  illumine 
the  pathway  of  life,  it  is  because  the  Sun  of 
righteousness  has  risen  upon  us  with  healing 
in  his  rays. 

We  grow  in  grace,  in  all  grace,  in  all  graces, 
as  we  grow  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ.     He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  licrht 

o 

as  well  as  life;  for  in  him  was  life,  and  the 
life  was  the  light  of  men.  Beholding  as  in  a 
glass  the  glory  or  character  of  the  Lord,  we 
are  changed  from  glory  into  glory.  A  Chris- 
tian shining  on  earth  tells  of  a  Saviour  reign- 
ing in  heaven  and  filling  all  things. 

The  light  which  shines  from  Christian  char- 

184 


**  LETTING  THE  LIGHT   SHINE 

acter  reaches  the  heavens  whence  it  came. 
We  are  a  spectacle  unto  angels  as  well  as  un- 
to men.  **To  the  intent  that  now  unto  prin- 
cipalities and  powers  in  heavenly  places 
might  be  made  known  by  the  Church  the 
manifold  wisdom  of  God."  The  Church 
is  God's  prism,  which  shows  the  manifold 
grace  no  less  than  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
God. 

Our  Lord  never  bade  his  disciples  to  let 
their  light  shine  until  he  had  shown  them  the 
seven-fold  rays  which  make  the  white  light 
of  Christian  character:  humility,  contrition, 
meekness,  mercy,  purity,  peace,  endurance. 
Each  is  *'  blessed."  Peter,  who  heard  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  reproduced  it  in  a  sentence 
when  he  said :  '  *  Finally,  be  ye  all  like-minded, 
compassionate,  loving  as  brethren,  tender- 
hearted, humble-minded;  not  rendering  evil 
for  evil,  or  reviling  for  reviling;  but  contrari- 
wise blessing;  for  hereunto  were  ye  called, 
that  ye  might  inherit  a  blessing." 

It  is  this  inherited  blessing  which  we  are  to 
share  with  the  world,  and  which  blesses  him 
that  gives  as  well  as  him  that  receives.     Truth 


SKILLED    LABOR    FOR    THE    MASTER 

first  embodied  in  a  personal  Saviour,  and  then 
in  saved  persons,  saved  others. 

The  unanswerable  argument  against  unbe- 
lief is  the  life  of  the  believer.  "  Ye  are  our 
epistle,  written  in  our  hearts,  known  and  read 
of  all  men ;  being  made  manifest  that  ye  are 
an  epistle  of  Christ,  ministered  by  us,  written 
not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living 
God;  not  in  tables  of  stone,  but  in  tables  that 
are  hearts  of  flesh."  The  stars  (planets)  no 
more  tell  us  that  the  sun  is  shining  somewhere 
than  these  *'  living  epistles  "  tell  of  *'  a  light 
that  never  was  on  sea  or  land,"  save  as  it 
shines  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  No  mar- 
vel that  city  hath  no  need  of  the  sun  or  of  the 
moon  to  shine  upon  it,  for  the  Lamb  is  the 
light  thereof.  There  can  be  no  night  there 
where  each  face  is  bright  with  the  joy  of  the 
Lord.  Nor  can  there  be  any  night  here  if  we 
obey  our  Lord's  command  to  let  the  light 
shine  and  are  ourselves  luminous  with  his 
presence,  the  power  that  worketh  in  us 
mightily. 

The  influence  and  responsibility  of  believ- 
ers were  as  clearly  taught  by  our  Lord  as 

1 86 


**  LETTING   THE   LIGHT    SHINE  " 

were  their  characteristics  and  privileges.  The 
sea  and  the  sun — the  one  the  great  reservoir 
of  salt,  and  the  other  of  light — are  no  more 
important  to  the  earth  than  are  behevers  who 
have  beheld  his  glor}^,  the  glory  as  of  the 
only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace 
and  truth. 

*'  I  am  no  longer  in  the  world,  but  these  are 
in  the  world."  To  find  suitable  receptacles 
and  vehicles  of  the  words  which  the  Father 
gave  him,  was  the  consuming  thought  of  the 
Saviour  during  the  last  year  of  his  ministr}-. 
**  I  pray  for  them." 

Our  Lord's  first  and  last  command,  given 
alike  on  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes  and  on  the 
Mount  of  Ascension,  was  to  let  the  light  shine. 
The  hope  of  the  world's  salvation  is  that  the 
salt  lose  not  its  savor  and  the  light  its  radiant 
energy.  ''Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me." 
It  is  by  letting  the  light  shine  that  the  world  is 
to  know  the  truth  of  Christianity  as  well  as 
the  possibility  and  enjoyableness  of  a  Chris- 
tian life.  This  is  the  very  purpose,  and  not 
simply  the  result,  of  the  command  to  let  the 

light  shine. 

187 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

The  last  time  our  Lord  was  ever  seen  by 
mortal  eye  was  when  he  was  walking  amid  the 
golden  candlesticks  to  see  if  this  command 
were  obeyed.  The  Churches  are  his  golden 
candlesticks  whose  office  it  is  to  send  afar  the 
light,  the  beautiful  light  of  God.  This  is  serv- 
ing the  Lord  in  *'  the  beauty  of  holiness," 
when  piety  in  both  natural  and  appropriate 
ways — the  light  on  the  candlestick  and  not 
under  a  bushel,  as  if  in  very  shame — gives 
light  unto  all  in  the  house. 

It  was  because  the  Pharisees  were  not  lu- 
minous with  the  graces  of  character  that  they 
were  incapable  of  good  works.  All  their  at- 
tempts to  do  their  works  before  men  to  be 
seen  of  them  received  our  Lord's  just  rebuke. 
They  were  willing  to  be  esteemed  for  what 
they  did  not  possess,  a  true  righteousness  or 
beauty  of  character.  It  was  a  saying  in  our 
Lord's  day,  **  If  only  two  persons  entered 
heaven,  one  would  be  a  scribe  and  the  other 
a  Pharisee."  Jesus  said,  **  Except  your  right- 
eousness exceed  the  righteousness  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  can  in  no  wise  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'' 


**  LETTING  THE   LIGHT   SHINE  " 

Good  works,  which  being  seen  of  men  may 
cause  them  to  glorify  our  Father  in  heaven, 
are  morally  beautiful  as  well  as  morally  good. 
The  very  language  of  Jesus  was  kala  erga, 
**  beautiful  works."  Deeds  thus  becoming  to 
a  believer,  and  inspired  by  love  to  God  and 
man,  become  as  natural  and  common  as 
breathing. 

The  surprises  of  **  that  day  "  will  be  in  hav- 
ing recounted  in  our  hearing  countless  beau- 
tiful works,  radiant  with  comfort  and  love,  of 
which  the  believer  has  no  recollection  because 
it  had  become  second  nature  to  do  good  to  all 
men,  especially  to  them  of  the  household  of 
faith.  Equally  surprising  will  be  the  com- 
mand, "  Depart  from  me,  ye  workers  of  in- 
iquity,'' given  to  those  whose  supposed  good 
works  were  their  passport  to  the  skies,  but 
whose  righteousness  was  simply  that  of  the 
Pharisees.  Moses,  the  meekest  of  men,  knew 
not  that  his  face  shone  even  when  he  had 
spent  forty  days  and  nights  with  God,  but  the 
beauty  of  the  Lord  God  was  upon  him.  It 
was  what  he  was  that  made  him  God's  spokes- 
man  to    the    nations,  although  like  Paul  he 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

deemed  himself  *'less  than  the  least  of  all 
saints  '' ;  or  with  the  Baptist,  "I  am  not  that 
Light,  but  am  sent  to  bear  witness  of  the 
Light." 

Over-profession  may  become  a  peril  to  a 
preacher,  as  he  knows  himself  to  be  esteemed 
for  what  he  does  not  have.  Better  the  mod- 
est self-estimate  of  John  or  of  Paul  than  the 
overestimate  and  pride  of  Peter,  who  was 
never  so  weak  as  when  he  deemed  himself 
most  strong.  Nearness  to  the  risen  Lord 
shows  itself  in  the  radiant  energy  of  quench- 
less love  of  God  and  man. 
190 


MY  PARISH  IS  THE  WORLD 


Christ's  maxim  is — one  soul  outweighs  the  world. 

— Brotvning. 

Grant  us  Thy  truth  to  make  us  free, 
And  kindling  hearts  that  burn  for  Thee, 
Till  all  Thy  heavenly  altars  claim 
One  holy  light,  one  heavenly  flame. 

— Holtnes. 


XIV 

MY  PARISH  IS  THE  WORLD. 

When  Dean  Stanley  was  in  our  country, 
a  great  reception  was  tendered  him  in  New 
York  City,  because  of  his  kind  and  generous 
estimate  of  the  Wesleys  that  prompted  him  to 
encourage  the  placing  in  Westminster  Abbey 
the  memorial  tablet  in  their  honor.  Mention 
was  made  by  more  than  one  speaker  of  the 
famous  inscription  on  the  base  of  his  father's 
tomb,  where  Wesley  is  seen  standing:  "I 
look  upon  all  the  world  as  my  parish."  Dean 
Stanley,  too,  mentioned  it,  remarking  that  he 
knew  of  but  one  nobler  motto,  and  that  was, 
"  My  parish  is  the  world."  It  was  the  other 
side  of  a  great  truth  which  every  preacher 
needs  to  ponder. 

Our  Lord's  ministry  has  blessed  the  whole 
world  because  of  its  definiteness.  He  stayed 
long  enough  in  one  place  during  the  three 
years  of  his  ministry  for  the  whole  world  to 
knov/  that  he  had  come.  **  I  am  not  sent  but 
13  193 


SKILLED   L/BOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel," 
was  his  announcement  of  the  limits  of  his 
own  field  who  was  to  send  his  disciples  ulti- 
mately into  all  the  world,  although  specify- 
ing the  definite  fields  which  they  were  to  take 
and  the  order  in  which  they  were  to  enter: 
Jerusalem,  Judea,  Samaria.  The  good  seed 
must  have  a  chance  to  take  root.  The  disci- 
ple must  follow  the  convert  and  be  edified  in 
the  faith.  The  vine  must  propagate  itself  to 
show  that  it  is  alive,  but  it  has  to  be  rooted 
somewhere  before  it  can  either  grow  or  bear 
fruit.  Each  star  has  its  defined  orbit,  al- 
though it  may  shine  for  all  the  world.  White- 
field  crossed  the  Atlantic  thirteen  times  in  his 
*' gospel  ranging,"  and  left  a  single  orphan 
house  when  he  died.  Wesley,  after  he  felt 
his  heart  strangely  warmed,  gave  himself  to 
the  United  Kingdom,  and  paid  more  turnpike 
toll  than  any  man  who  ever  lived  in  looking 
after  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
had  made  him  overseer,  and  feeding  the 
Church  of  God  which  he  purchased  with  his 
own  blood;   and  when  Wesley  died  his  work 

had  become  so  well  established  that  it  is  now 
194 


MY  PARISH   IS  THE  WORLD 

recognized   as  the  most  aggressive  religious 
force  in  three  continents. 

The  care  of  the  flock  occupied  Wesley's 
best  thought,  as  he  saw  that  it  was  in  danger 
of  being  scattered  at  his  death.  It  is  a  nota- 
ble fact  that  he  turned  toward  Fletcher  as  his 
successor,  the  most  successful  and  useful  pas- 
tor since  the  days  of  Richard  Baxter,  of  Kid- 
derminster. The  immortal  pastor  of  Madeley 
preceded  Wesley  to  the  heavenly  world,  and 
so  Methodism  never  received  the  impress 
that  Fletcher  would  have  given  it.  There  is, 
therefore,  the  greater  reason  to  read  his  work 
during  twenty-five  years  at  Madeley  to  see 
what  so  profoundly  impressed  the  great  evan- 
gelist and  founder  of  Methodism  as  needful 
for  its  best  development.  It  needed  one  who 
could  say  **My  parish  is  the  world'*  to  suc- 
ceed one  whose  peculiar  relation  to  the  great 
religious  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century 
made  necessary  his  more  evangelistic  work, 
extending  under  his  direction  throughout  the 
United  Kingdom  and,  through  his  missiona- 
ries, among  the  American  colonists.  Made- 
ley  showed  what  the  leaven  of  the  gospel 
195 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

could  do  in  leavening  the  whole  lump.     If 
when    Baxter   went   to    Kidderminster   only 
about  one  family  in  a  street  worshiped  God, 
and  when  he  came  away  there  was  not  more 
than  about  one  on  a  street  that  did  not  wor- 
ship God,  it  may  be  said  that  a  like  transfor- 
mation was  made  in  the  people  of  Madeley. 
At  first  they  mocked  the  efforts  of  Fletcher, 
who  had  resigned  a  larger  stipend  to  come  to 
them  for  only  half  what  he  had  been  receiv- 
ing, declining  his  former  living  of  Dunham 
because  *' there  was  too  much  money  and  too 
little   labor."      Despite    opposition,    slander, 
menace  of  all  sorts,  this  saint  and   scholar, 
the  master  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  French, 
and  German,  and  profoundly  read  in  philoso- 
phy, and  whose  reasoning  powers  and  clear 
style  have  given  him  a  permanent  place  in 
literature,  combined  diligent  pastoral  labors 
with  incessant  preaching,  feeding  the  hungry, 
unf urnishing  his  own  house  that  he  might  sup- 
ply others,  caring  for  the  training  and  educa- 
tion of  the  youth,  until  opposition  gave  way  to 
reverence  and  admiration,  and  many  looked 

upon  their  houses  as  consecrated  by  his  visits. 
196 


MY  PARISH   IS   THE  WORLD 

He  gave  himself  to  his  people.  When  they 
complained  of  not  being  able  to  wake  up  in 
time  to  be  ready  for  divine  service,  Fletcher 
would  go  through  the  streets  at  five  in  the 
morning,  and,  bell  in  hand,  v/ould  call  them 
from  sleep  to  service.  No  wonder  the  sheep 
heard  his  voice  as  the  good  shepherd  called 
his  own  sheep  by  name.  And  yet  he  did  onl}^ 
what  Paul  had  done  at  Ephesus,  preaching 
from  house  to  house  *' about  the  space  of 
three  years,"  until  the  gospel  sounded  out 
from  thence  into  all  Asia.  The  circular  let- 
ter that  we  call  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 
intended  doubtless  for  all  the  seven  churches 
of  Asia,  tells  what  sort  of  saints  could  be  de- 
veloped under  that  kind  of  a  pastor,  despite 
the  unpromising  material. 

Such  concentration  of  thought  and  effort 
enables  the  preacher  to  do  his  best  work,  as 
the  artist  who  gives  himself  to  his  easel,  and 
the  scientist  to  his  microscope.  He  who 
knows  one  man  thoroughly  knows  a  whole 
class  of  men.  '*  Beside  the  Bonnie  Brier 
Bush"  had  its  origin  in  actual  experience 
as  pastor    among   those    wonderful  types  of 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

character  that  are  immortalized  in  its  pages. 
Such  experiences  recall  our  Lord's  *'  little 
flock"  to  whom  it  was  the  Father's  good 
pleasure  to  give  the  kingdom.  You  can  hear 
his  voice  of  instruction  amid  the  rustle  of  the 
corn  as  they  pass  through  the  cornfields,  or 
above  the  hum  of  voices  at  the  wedding  feast. 
He  talks  to  men  in  the  midst  of  their  labor, 
and  they  leave  their  nets  to  follow  him,  as 
long  centuries  after  George  Herbert,  **the 
country  parson,"  gained  such  influence  over 
his  people  that  they  blessed  him  as  he  passed, 
and  left  the  plow  in  the  furrow  when  his 
church  bell  rang  for  prayer.  In  seeking  the 
best  for  his  people,  he  gives  his  best  to  them, 
and  thus  the  pastor  ever  grows  as  a  student 
and  a  thinker  and  preacher.  Even  from  coun- 
try parishes  have  come  some  of  the  most  no- 
table works  in  literature  and  theology,  such 
as  Hooker's  *'  Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  Fletch- 
er's ** Checks"  and  his ''Portraiture  of  St. 
Paul,"  Baxter's  ''Reformed  Pastor,"  and 
Rutherford's  "  Letters,"  which  have  been  a 
veritable     garden    of    spices    for    centuries. 

Here  were  made  great  preachers  like  Chal- 

198 


MY  PARISH   IS   THE  WORLD 

mers  and  Magee,  who  was  called  in  a  few 
years  from  his  small  Irish  parish  to  be  bishop 
of  Peterboro,  and  a  little  later  archbishop  of 
York,  after  he  had  given  up  all  thought  of 
preferment,  and  was  giving  his  life  without 
stint  to  his  flock  that  he  loved  so  well. 
Such  men  cannot  be  hidden  any  more  than 
Moses  or  David  with  their  sheep,  when  God 
hath  need  of  them  in  the  place  which  is  sure 
to  await  them.  None  others  can  fill  it  but 
those  who  have  been  faithful  in  that  which  is 
least.  A  shepherd's  crook  can  be  readily 
made  into  a  scepter,  provided  it  has  been 
seasoned  in  faithful  service. 

It  is  the  severest  test  which  can  come  to  a 
young  minister  to  have  to  apportion  his  own 
time.  In  other  callings  it  is  apportioned  for 
a  young  man,  and  he  is  directed  how  to  use 
the  several  parts  of  the  day,  and  careful  su- 
pervision is  given  to  his  work  to  see  that  he 
does  it  well.  The  minister  is  his  own  mas- 
ter, almost  his  own  creator  or  destroyer  in 
consequence.  Dr.  Harper  has  said:  **  It  is 
an  unfortunate  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of 

men  who  enter  the  ministry  begin  to  lose  in- 

199 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

tellectual  strength  from  the  moment  they 
leave  the  seminary."  Is  it  because  no  one 
now  assigns  them  their  daily  tasks,  and  there 
13  no  husbanding  of  their  time  or  resources? 
Even  if  there  were  only  now  and  then  such  an 
intellectual  and  consequently  spiritual  degen- 
erate, it  should  awaken  as  serious  alarm  as 
when  the  Lord  said  to  the  Twelve,  *'  One  of 
you  shall  betray  me,"  and  the  anxious  ques- 
tion came  from  pale  lips,  *'Lord,  is  it  I?'' 
Unless  a  preacher's  mornings  are  golden, 
the  whole  day  is  apt  to  be  leaden.  Unless  he 
feels  called  to  make  the  most  careful  prepa- 
ration to  feed  the  flock  in  his  own  parish,  he 
has  no  mission  to  any  other.  Any  parish 
is  a  world  to  him  who  hears  and  heeds  the 
inspired  injunction:  "Take  heed  to  thy- 
self, and  to  the  doctrine.  Continue  in  these 
things ;  for  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  save  both 
thyself  and  them  that  hear  thee."  Five  morn- 
ing hours  of  genuine  study  (not  simply  five 
hours  of  reading  or  reverie)  will  so  aerate 
the  brain  that  the  preacher  will  eagerly  be- 
come pastor  for  a  few  hours  in  the  afternoon, 
applying  some  of  the  great  truths  which  have 


MY   PARISH   IS   THE   WORLD 

fed  his  own  brain  and  heart.  That  was  the 
secret  of  apostolic  successes.  The  Spirit  of 
truth  so  fed  the  apostles  that  ''every  day,  in 
the  temple  and  at  home,  they  ceased  not  to 
teach  and  to  preach  Jesus  as  the  Christ." 
That  explained  Brainerd's  success  among  the 
Indians,  as  he  declares:  "  I  thought  of  noth- 
ing else,  I  cared  for  nothing  else,  but  their 
conversion.  I  dreamed  of  it  in  the  night, 
and  lived  for  it  in  the  day."  Such  a  man 
could  be  trusted  to  apportion  his  time  himself 
the  better  to  accomplish  his  work  for  his 
Lord  who  counted  him  faithful,  putting  him 
into  this  ministry.  Too  well  he  knows  that 
Satan  is  no  "  unpreaching  prelate,"  who 
would  rob  him  of  his  flock. 

*'  Seemeth  it  a  small  thing  that  the  God  of 
Israel  hath  separated  you  from  the  congrega- 
tion of  Israel,  to  bring  you  near  to  himself, 
to  do  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
Lord,  and  to  stand  before  the  congregation  to 
minister  unto  them?"  So  Moses  needed  to 
address  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,  v/ho 
were  ambitious  for  more  responsible  work 
than  that  for  which  the  Lord  deemed  them 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

fitted.  Their  censers  were  holy  if  they  were 
not,  and  they  were  saved  from  the  fire  that 
destroyed  their  owners,  and  were  made  into 
beaten  plates  for  a  covering  of  the  altar,  for 
a  stgit  unto  the  feople.  However  small  the 
parish,  it  is  large  enough  to  give  an  account 
of  in  the  day  of  judgment.  None  realize  this 
more  keenly  than  those  who,  like  Archbishop 
Leighton,  looking  back  to  the  sacred  duties 
of  a  pastor,  said,  '*Were  I  again  a  parish 
minister,  I  would  follow  sinners  to  their 
homes,  and  even  to  their  alehouses."  Hap- 
py the  pastor  who  falls  in  love  with  his  flock, 
and  who  feels  less  that  they  belong  to  him 
than  that  he  belongs  to  them.  When  he 
says  **wy  Church,"  he  means  the  one  that 
he  belongs  to,  every  golden  moment  of  his 
time,  every  thought  of  his  brain,  every  affec- 
tion of  his  heart.  With  the  shepherd  Jacob, 
he  can  say,  **  In  the  day  the  drought  con- 
sumed me,  and  the  frost  by  night;  and  my 
sleep  fled  from  mine  eyes"  as  I  watched  thy 
flock  and  my  flock.  With  such  a  passionate 
love  for  his  flock,  it  was  from  his  very  heart 

of  hearts  that  Rutherford  said  to  his  people : 
202 


MY  PARISH   IS   THE  WORLD 

«*  Your  heaven  would  be  two  heavens  to  me, 
and  the  salvation  of  you  all  would  be  two 
salvations  to  me/'  The  hireling  fleeth  be- 
cause he  is  a  hireling,  but  the  good  shepherd 
lays  down  his  life  for  his  sheep.  To  ambi- 
tious, impetuous,  forth  -  putting  Peter  the 
charge  of  charges  is  given:  *«  Feed  my 
sheep."  Thus  '*  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself 
and  them  that  hear  thee."  Any  parish  will 
seem  a  world  if  we  only  follow  the  example 
of  the  apostles  who  "  came  and  told  Jesus  all 
things,  whatsoever  they  had  done,  and  what- 
soever they  had  taught."     (Mark  vi.  30.) 

An  heir  apparent  is  to  be  educated;  what 
scholar  would  not  covet  a  tutor's  place  when 
he  is  thus  preparing  him  for  the  throne? 
Philhps  Brooks  was  the  chosen  one  to  tell 
Helen  Keller  of  God.  With  one  soul  as  his 
parish,  he  did  as  faithful  intellectual  and  spir- 
itual work  as  when  he  preached  to  the  crowds 
under  the  great  lantern  of  Trinity.  His  let- 
ters to  that  bright  soul  shut  up  in  a  maimed 
physical  organism  will  be  read  w^hen  many  of 
his  great  sermons  are   out  of  print.     From 

village  and  country  congregations  have  come 
203 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

great  statesmen,  great  generals,  great  preach- 
ers, who  told,  as  Patrick  Henry  did  of  Samuel 
Davies,  that  the  mightiest  intellectual  and 
spiritual  inspiration  of  their  lives  came  from 
the  man  of  God  who  fed  both  brain  and  heart 
from  the  pulpit  of  a  small  parish.  Such 
preachers  are  the  tutors  of  kings.  Nathan 
never  spoke  with  more  power  than  when  he 
turned  David's  thoughts  back  to  his  flocks, 
and  to  just  such  a  ewe  lamb  as  he  had  often 
borne  in  his  bosom  when  caring  for  those 
"few  sheep  in  the  wilderness";  for  there  he 
had  first  learned  of  God.  How  much  of  the 
moral  safety  of  the  nation  is  in  the  keeping 
of  the  faithful  preacher  whose  parish  is  his 
world !  It  was  just  such  a  man  as  Chau- 
cer paints  in  imperishable  lines  that  moisten 
many  an  eye  with  their  tender  memories, 
as  he  tells  of  *'his  good  man  of  religion'* 
whom  he  calls  *'the  poor  Person  of  a  town '' 
of  whom  it  is  said : 

Christ's  lore,  and  his  apostles  twelve, 

He  taught,  and  first  he  followed  it  himself. 

Such  men,  like  Victor  Hugo's  "good  bish- 
op," are  not  alone  the   creation  of  genius; 
204 


MY  PARISH   IS   THE  WORLD 

they  are  true  men  created  anew  in  Christ 
Jesus  to  say  to  a  fallen  fellow-man:  **Jean 
Valjean,  my  brother,  3^ou  belong  no  longer  to 
evil,  but  to  good.  I  withdraw  your  soul  from 
dark  thoughts  and  from  the  spirit  of  perdi- 
tion, and  give  it  to  God."  It  is  at  such  a 
good  man's  door  that  the  tempted  will  often 
find  themselves  bowed  in  prayer  at  the  mid- 
night hour,  thanking  God  that  some  one  be- 
lieves in  them  still,  though  to  all  the  rest  of 
the  world  they  may  seem  as  vile  as  a  galley 
slave.  Voltaire  in  vain  cries,  **Do  not  speak 
to  me  of  Jesus;  curse  the  wretch,"  so  long  as 
there  are  such  faithful  ministers  of  God. 

The  prayers  of  hungry  souls  and  poor, 
Like  armfed  angels  at  the  door, 
Our  unseen  foes  appall. 

What  a  work  was  that  of  Augustus,  who 
found  Rome  brick  and  left  it  marble !  Far 
greater  the  pastor's  who  finds  men  sinners 
and  leaves  them  saints;  who  finds  them  ig- 
norant and  leaves  them  educated;  narrow, 
and  broadens  them;  selfish,  and  teaches 
them   to    live   for    others;     who    imparts    to 

them    out    of    his    own    glowing    heart    the 
20; 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

very  divine  energy  of  the  gospel — the  spirit 
of  missions. 

What  an  opportunity  has  every  faithful  pas- 
tor, if  he  watches  for  the  port  that  God  bids 
him  enter!  For  such  opportunities  he  shall 
be  judged.  In  some  parts  of  England  there 
is  a  custom,  when  the  parish  priest  dies,  of 
burying  him  with  his  feet  toward  the  west 
(the  people  being  buried  with  their  feet  to- 
ward the  east),  that  at  the  resurrection  day 
he  may  be  able,  as  they  explain  it,  to  stand 
up  and  face  the  people.  Happy  the  pastor 
who  can  then  say,  "Behold  me  and  the  chil- 
dren whom  thou  hast  given  me !  ' ' 

Whj  should  we  crave  the  worldling's  wreath, 
On  whom  the  Saviour  deigned  to  breathe, 

To  whom  his  kejs  were  given; 
Who  lead  the  choir  where  angels  meet, 
With  angels'  food  our  brethren  greet, 

And  pour  the  drink  of  heaven. 
206 


A  PASTOR'S  PERPLEXITY. 


But  none  of  the  ransomed  ever  knew 
How  deep  were  the  waters  crossed; 

Nor  how  dark  was  the  night  that  the  Lord 
passed  through 
Ere  He  found  the  sheep  that  was  lost. 

There  is  no  great  and  no  small 
To  the  Soul  that  maketh  all; 
And  where  it  cometh  all  things  are; 
And  it  cometh  everywhere. 

—Emerson. 


XV 

A  PASTOR'S  PERPLEXITY. 

I  VENTURE  to  quote  from  a  letter  received 
from  one  of  our  most  zealous  pastors,  and  to 
give  my  answer  written  with  great  freedom, 
as  requested,  but  written  at  the  same  time 
with  reference  not  to  this  case  alone,  but  to 
the  principle  of  pastoral  fidelity  and  what  it 
involves.  I  purposely  withhold  the  name  of 
my  correspondent,  although  he  is  well  known 
in  the  councils  of  the  Church,  having  been  a 
member  of  several  General  Conferences.  He 
writes  as  follows : 

Dear  Bishop  Hendrix:  The  deep  and  very  manifest  in- 
terest which  jou  have  taken  in  the  development  of  the 
ministry  of  our  Church  must  act  as  my  apology  for  tres- 
passing upon  the  time  of  a  busy  man.  I  need  counsel  on 
a  matter  that  has  brought  me  in  the  past  much  perplexity 
and  a  thousand  heartaches.  My  problem  is:  How  shall  I 
be  faithful  in  the  administration  of  the  discipline  of  the 
Church  and  keep  out  of  a  row  ?  Let  me  state  what  seem  to 
me  to  be  a  few  clear  facts :  A  great  many  of  our  most  prom- 
inent preachers  say  outright  that  they  will  not  follow  the 
discipline  in  dealing  with  people  who  are  given  to  worldly 
amusements;  that  it  is  their  business  to  preach  the  truth, 
14  209 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

and  leave  matters  with  the  consciences  of  the  people. 
A  far  larger  class  of  our  preachers  move  on  sweetly,  and 
never  see  any  offenses  calling  for  action.  They  antag- 
onize nothing,  or  they  doit  in  such  a  way  as  means  noth- 
ing and  comes  to  nothing.  Under  such  administration 
the  churches  in  our  towns  and  cities  have  come  to  the 
point  that  if  another  man,  to  whom  the  discipline  is  a  rule 
of  Church  life,  undertakes  to  bring  his  charge  to  anything 
like  the  standard  of  the  discipline,  he  is  immediately  in 
trouble.  You  have  the  case  before  you.  Will  you  speak 
freely,  and  none  the  less  so  if  it  should  lead  you  to  say 
what  unsolicited  you  would  not  venture  to  say?  If  you 
have  found  me  honest,  help  me  as  a  brother  to  solve  an 
honest  perplexity. 

My  Dear  Brother:  I  am  glad  to  know  by 
your  letter  that  you  have  had  the  courage  of 
your  convictions,  and  possibly,  so  far  as  your 
public  utterances  are  concerned,  your  posi- 
tion is  so  well  known  as  to  make  any  addi- 
tional deliverance  from  the  pulpit  unnecessa- 
ry. It  is  very  important  in  a  pastor  to  avoid 
what  might  be  called  *^  nagging."  Having 
made  clear  his  position  and  sought  to  awaken 
the  consciences  of  his  people,  let  him  give 
time  for  the  offenders  against  the  discipline 
of  the  Church  to  amend.  Irritation  is  sure 
to  follow  if  the  offender  has  reason  to  think 

3IO 


A  pastor's  perplexity 

that  the  preacher  is  **  nagging"  him  by  too 
frequent  references  to  what  his  awakened 
conscience  is  already  weighing.  A  manly 
preacher  whose  position  is  already  well  known 
from  the  pulpit  is  not  to  be  charged  with  cow- 
ardice if  he  deems  it  wise  henceforth  to  preach 
on  other  themes,  unless  in  the  case  of  such 
violent  outbreak  as  to  require  additional  in- 
struction against  the  evils  of  dissipation  in 
taking  such  diversions  as  cannot  be  taken  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Our  Lord  found 
it  necessary  only  twice  during  his  ministry  to 
pubHcly  rebuke  those  who  defiled  the  temple 
by  making  it  a  place  of  merchandise,  and  the 
two  rebukes  were  some  three  years  apart.  A 
weaker  man  would  have  made  a  scourge  of 
small  cords  every  time  he  entered  the  tem- 
ple, and  upset  the  tables  of  the  money-chan- 
gers with  such  frequency  as  to  have  rendered 
worship  impossible  in  that  place  of  prayer  for 
all  nations.  Some  well-intentioned  preachers 
fail  to  distinguish  between  having  a  row  and 
feeding  the  flock.  The  best  sheep  will  clam- 
or for  a  shepherd  whose  rod  and  whose  staff 
can    comfort   them,   and  who   knows  where 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

are  the  green  pastures  and  the  still  waters. 
Moreover,  in  restoring  a  soul  great  gentle^ 
ness  is  needed.  Our  Lord  turned  and  looked 
on  Peter,  who  went  out  and  wept  bitterly. 
There  are  times  when  silence  is  golden,  and 
the  soul  is  to  be  left  alone  with  God. 

That  is  a  happy  combination  of  terms  which 
describes  our  Lord  as  made  like  unto  his 
brethren  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faith- 
ful high  priest.  He  is  the  better  able  to  suc- 
cor them  that  are  tempted  in  that  he  himself 
hath  suffered  being  tempted.  Fidelity  and 
mercy  are  often  one,  not  opposites.  The  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah  is  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  When  the 
woman  who  was  taken  in  adultery  was  brought 
to  Jesus,  her  accusers  said:  **Now,  Moses  in 
the  law  commanded  us  that  such  should  be 
stoned ;  but  what  sayest  thou  ?' '  Jesus  at  first 
made  no  answer.  He  was  more  anxious  to 
save  both  her  accusers  and  the  sinful  woman 
than  even  to  vindicate  the  law.  Was  hers  the 
only  sin  that  had  been  committed,  or  had  her 
accusers  lost  sight  of  their  own  in  trying  to 
make  sure  of  the  woman's  punishment,  even 


A   PASTOR  S   PERPLEXITY 

though  by  death?  A  beautiful  legend  says  that 
Jesus  wrote  on  the  ground  *'  Murder, '^  when 
one  of  her  accusers,  suddenly  reminded  of 
his  own  sin,  left  the  place.  He  then  wrote 
* '  Theft,  "and  another  fled .  As  he  continued 
to  write  the  names  of  sins,  alas !  too  common 
among  them,  and  they  continued  asking, 
"What  say  est  thou?"  our  Lord  simply  re- 
plied, *'  He  that  is  without  sin  among  you, 
let  him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her."  Again  he 
stooped,  and  that  wonderful  writing  went  on, 
the  only  words  that  Jesus  is  ever  known  to 
have  written;  and  though  they  were  merci- 
fully written  in  the  sand  where  they  could  be 
soon  erased,  they  were  written  at  the  same 
time  upon  the  hearts  of  the  accusers,  until, 
*' being  convicted  by  their  own  conscience, 
they  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning  at  the 
eldest,  even  unto  the  last."  When  Jesus  lift- 
ed himself  up  and  saw  none  but  the  woman, 
he  said  unto  her:  **  Woman,  where  are  those 
thine  accusers?  Hath  no  man  condemned 
thee?  She  said,  No  man.  Lord.  And  Je- 
sus   said    unto    her.  Neither   do  I   condemn 

thee:   go  and  sin  no  more."     It  is  part  of  the 

213 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

legend  that  this  woman,  the  nameless  one, 
whose  sweet,  innocent  name  of  childhood  she 
had  long  since  abandoned  as  many  a  criminal 
has  done  for  some  alias,  or  possibly  for  even 
more  than  one,  was  the  one  who,  saved  by 
such  combined  mercy  and  faithfulness,  after- 
wards stole  into  the  place  where  Jesus  re- 
clined at  meat,  when  the  hot  tears  betrayed 
her  as  they  fell  upon  her  Saviour's  feet.  More 
precious  than  the  alabaster  cruse  of  ointment 
in  her  hand  were  these  tears  of  genuine  repent- 
ance and  love  on  her  cheek.  It  was  natural 
that  Luke,  the  beloved  physician,  should  tell 
her  story  as  illustrating  how  the  Great  Physi- 
cian was  wont  to  treat  the  sick,  saying,  ''I  am 
not  come  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to 
repentance."  Recovery  is  the  best  surgery. 
*'  He  restore th  my  soul." 

In  that  word  "  restoreth  "  is  found  alike  the 
end  and  method  of  discipline.  *'  Brethren,  if 
a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which  are 
spiritual,  restore  such  a  one  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness:  considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also 
be  tempted."     It  was  to  Peter,  about  to  be 

tempted  beyond  what  he  proved  able  to  bear, 
214 


A  PASTOR  S   PERPLEXITY 

that  our  loving  Lord  said,  **And  do  thou, 
when  once  thou  hast  turned  again,  strength- 
en thy  brethren."  He  permitted  him  first  to 
weep  out  his  penitent  tears  in  that  soHtary  in- 
terview when  the  angel  of  the  resurrection 
sent  the  message,  **  Go  tell  his  disciples  and 
Peter  that  he  has  risen  from  the  dead." 
Then  days  afterwards,  in  far-off  Galilee, 
amid  the  scenes  of  his  early  life,  after  reflec- 
tion had  come  to  his  aid  to  acquaint  him  the 
better  with  himself,  and  when  his  Lord  had 
fed  him  with  a  fish  caught  in  no  human  net — 
that  one  hundred  and  fifty-fourth  fish  so  lov- 
ingly provided  for  the  hungry  apostles  after 
their  night  of  fruitless  toil — to  his  prepared 
mind  came  the  question,  **  Lovest  thou  me 
more  than  these?"  When  with  a  now  mod- 
est view  of  his  devotion  he  dares  answer, 
*'  Yea,  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee," 
an  easy  task  is  given:  **  Feed  my  lambs." 
Watch  with  untiring  solicitude  the  young  of 
the  flock.  Again  the  question  is  asked,  but 
without  reference  to  how  much  others  might 
love  their  Lord ;  and  when  Peter  makes  the 
same  reply  as  before,  a  more  difficult  work  is 

215 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

given  him:  **  Tend,  shepherd,  my  sheep.** 
Not  onty  must  the  young  be  fed,  the  mature 
and  vigorous  must  be  guided.  The  shepherd 
must  rule  no  less  than  feed.  How  had  the 
Good  Shepherd  recovered  the  most  wayw^arH 
of  all  his  sheep,  the  one  who  had  denied 
all  knowledge  of  the  Shepherd  and  of  the 
fold?  He  had  laid  down  his  life  for  the 
sheep !  One  more  question,  and  different 
from  all  the  others;  **  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
hast  thou  this  love  for  me  that  will  give  up 
all  for  a  friend  ? ' '  Grieved  though  he  was  to 
be  reminded  of  his  profession  of  a  love  which 
was  so  far  below  the  reality  when  the  testing 
time  came,  Peter  could  now  say:  **  Lord,  thou 
knowest  all  things ;  thou  knowest  that  I  love 
thee  now,  even  with  the  love  that  I  once 
thought  I  had,  and  what  thou  now  desirest  of 
me  for  service."  Then  came  the  highest  and 
most  difficult  of  all  the  commands,  the  one 
requiring  most  of  love's  resources:  *' Feed 
my  sheep."  To  provide  for  the  flock  so  that 
they  shall  ever  increase  in  strength  and  fruit- 
fulness,  to  give  tender  care  and   loving  fore^ 

thought  to  the  strong  as  well  as  the  weak,  for 
216 


A  PASTOR*S   PERPLEXITY 

the  Strongest  no  less  thail  the  weakest  may  go 
astray,  even  as  Peter  had  done — this,  this  is 
the  ChristHke  work  of  the  pastor  after  Christ's 
own  heart. 

It  is  in  giving  heed  to  all  the  flock  over 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  him  over- 
seer that  the  true  pastor  finds  the  best  means 
of  discipline.  A  series  of  sermons  on  the 
Ten  Commandments  is  healthy  for  both  pas- 
tor and  people.  It  tones  up  the  whole  Church, 
and  none  can  claim  that  the  preacher  is  al- 
ways after  the  young  people's  sins,  and  neg- 
lects the  sins  of  covetousness  or  of  profanity, 
of  bearing  false  witness  or  of  unlawful  gain, 
which  may  obtain  among  the  older  members 
of  the  flock.  Many  a  lamb  needs  feeding 
while  the  sheep  require  shepherding.  But  it 
is  only  the  good  shepherd  who  can  do  either 
well.  Absolute  faith  in  the  goodness  of  the 
shepherd  can  alone  make  even  his  rod  and 
his  staff  a  comfort.  Every  gate  leading  from 
the  garden  of  Eden  must  have  an  angel  with 
his  sword  of  fire,  and  not  simply  the  one 
where  the  lambs  may  go  out.     This  was  the 

secret  of  Paul's  wonderful  ministry  in  Ephe-^ 
217 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

sus,  despite  its  unfavorable  beginning,  a  min- 
istry that  led  to  the  planting  of  all  the  seven 
churches  of  Asia.  As  he  parts  from  his  dis- 
ciples, to  w^hom  he  is  to  send  that  epistle  writ- 
ten with  his  very  heart's  blood,  he  truthfully 
says :  *  *  Wherefore  I  testify  unto  you  this  day, 
I  am  free  from  the  blood  of  all  men.  For  I 
shrank  not  from  declaring  unto  you  the  whole 
gospel  of  God." 

By  manifestation  of  the  truth  we  are  to 
commend  ourselves  to  every  man's  conscience 
in  the  sight  of  God.  Let  the  people  have  all 
the  truth,  and  not  simply  that  respecting  one 
or  two  sins.  Heed  the  advice  given  by  Arch- 
bishop Potter  to  John  Wesley,  and  to  which 
he  owed  so  much:  "If  you  desire  to  be  ex- 
tensively useful,  do  not  spend  your  time  and 
strength  in  contending  for  and  against  such 
things  as  are  of  a  disputable  nature,  but  in 
testifying  against  open  and  notorious  vice  and 
in  promoting  spiritual  holiness."  Beware  of 
hobbies  of  all  kinds.  Let  your  **  modera- 
tion" be  known  unto  all.  Yea,  add  to  your 
faith  courage,  and  to  your  courage  knowl- 
edge,  and   to  your  knowledge    moderation. 

3l8 


A  PASTOR  S   PERPLEXITY 

There  are  some  most  intemperate  preachers 
of  temperance,  usually  because  they  deem 
others  weak  where  they  themselves  are  con- 
sciously weakest.  And  there  were  those  in 
our  Lord's  day  who  were  so  eager  looking 
for  motes  and  slivers  that  they  could  not  see 
beams,  even  though  they  were  in  their  own 
eyes.  To  avoid  this  danger,  one  should  seek 
to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God  and  not 
dwell  unduly  on  any  one  truth,  however  im- 
portant. Salt  is  good,  but  there  may  be  too 
much  of  it  even  for  the  best  sheep,  who  will 
refuse  their  food  when  too  highly  seasoned. 
There  is  nothing  more  unwholesome  than 
oversalted  hay. 

There  is  divine  wisdom  in  the  psalmist's 
injunction,  **Fret  not  thyself  because  of  evil 
doers."  It  is  followed  by,  **  Fret  not  thyself, 
it  tendeth  only  to  evil  doing."  It  means,  Do 
not  inflame  thyself.  Nothing  will  sooner  kin- 
dle anger  in  others  than  to  be  addressed  in  an- 
ger. Serious  antagonism  may  be  developed 
in  the  hearer  in  place  of  penitence,  when  there 
is  manifest  anger  in  the  preacher.     The  voice 

loses   its   authority  which    is  tremulous  with 

219 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

passion.  **Doest  thou  well  to  be  angry?" 
was  asked  of  Jonah  when  he  was  exceedingly 
displeased  and  angry  because  he  was  in  dan- 
ger of  being  discredited  as  a  prophet  of  de- 
struction, while  God's  purposes  were  to  give 
repentance  unto  life.  **I  do  well  to  be  an- 
gry even  unto  death,"  replied  the  unhappy 
prophet,  who  was  never  more  unfitted  to 
preach  than  when  his  heart  had  lost  the  com- 
passion for  the  erring  and  sinful.  His  fret- 
ting tended  only  to  evil.  He  was  anxious  to 
die,  not  for  the  lost  sheep  whom  he  had  been 
sent  to  save,  but  because  in  rebuking  sin  he 
was  more  anxious  for  victory  over  the  wicked 
city  than  for  its  salvation,  and  so  lost  his  peace 
with  God. 

The  weak  and  erring  need  the  careful  treat- 
ment due  to  a  feeble  constitution,  and  that 
can  generally  be  best  given  in  private.  Nor 
is  it  best  always  to  treat  mere  symptoms.  At- 
tempt constitutional  treatment.  Feed  them 
well  with  *'the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that 
they  may  grow  thereby  unto  salvation,"  as 
Peter  says.  Give  them  some  work  to  do  as 
was  done  for  this  same  Peter,  who  remem- 


bers  so  tenderly  his  Lord's  way  of  restoring 
him.  Ye  spiritual  fathers,  provoke  not  your 
children  to  wrath  if  you  would  bring  them  up 
in  the  admonition  of  the  Lord.  The  hot  flame 
of  anger  will  dry  up  the  tears  of  penitence. 
Let  them  not  forget  their  sin  against  God  in 
thinking  of  the  supposed  sin  of  a  pastor  against 
them.  They  can  be  restored  only  in  a  spirit 
of  meekness  by  one  who  considers  well  him- 
self lest  he  also  be  tempted.  Never  should 
the  shepherd  be  so  sure  of  himself  as  when 
he  goes  after  the  sheep  that  has  gone  astray. 
Never  should  his  voice  be  more  gentle  and 
persuasive,  nor  his  hand  more  willing  to  be 
pierced.  The  earliest  pictures  of  Christ  were 
those  of  the  shepherd  with  the  recovered  lamb, 
or  even  kid,  on  his  shoulder. 


THE  PASTOR'S  PERSONAL  STAFF. 


The  deepest  hunger  of  a  faithful  heart 
Is  faithfulness. 

— Georg'e  Eliot, 

The  soul  that's  stung  to  strength  through  weakness, 

strives  for  good 
Through  evil — earth  its  race-ground,  heaven  its  goal. 


No  man  is  born  into  the  world  whose  work 
Is  not  born  with  him:  there  is  always  work, 
And  tools  to  work  withal,  for  those  who  will. 

— Lowell. 


XVI 

THE  PASTOR'S  PERSONAL  STAFF. 

One  of  the  foremost  preachers  of  our  day, 
and  one  whose  church  has  long  been  a  great 
power  in  the  metropoHs  of  our  country,  re- 
cently said:  "I  have  ceased  to  look  upon 
my  church  as  my  field;  it  is  more,  it  is  my 
force."  To  use  his  church  as  a  force  was 
the  end  for  which  he  fed  his  people.  They 
were  more  than  hearers — they  were  doers  of 
the  word.  And  because  his  was  a  working 
church  it  was  a  healthy  church,  with  good 
digestion  and  hungry  for  the  word.  Like 
the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  the  more  they 
sought  to  do  for  the  Master  the  more  hungry 
they  were  for  instruction  and  the  more  they 
profited  by  it.  Such  a  congregation  is  not  a 
mere  encampment;  it  is  an  army,  officered, 
drilled,  taught,  disciplined,  fought.  It  is  an 
organized  force,  a  true  church  which  exists 
'*  alike  for  the  edification  of  believers  and 
for  the  conversion  of  the  world."  The  pas- 
tor is  more  than  a  shepherd  who  feeds — he  is 
a  shepherd  who  leads :   and  his  followers  be- 

15  225 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

come  an  armed  force,  each  clad  in  the  whole 
armor  of  God.  The  Scriptures  which  speak 
of  disciples  as  sheep  to  be  fed  speak  of  them 
also  as  good  soldiers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  who 
are  to  become  more  than  conquerors. 

Our  Lord  did  not  long  attempt  to  do  his 
work  single-handed,  as  many  pastors  unwise- 
ly do;  but  chose  out  of  the  number  of  his 
disciples  those  who  should  receive  his  special 
impress,  which  they  might  impart  to  others 
long  after  his  ascension.  The  last  year  of 
his  ministry  was  given  almost  wholly  to  the 
instruction  of  the  twelve  whom  he  had  chosen 
just  before  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount  a  year 
before,  about  the  beginning  of  the  second 
period  of  his  Galilean  ministry.  To  indoc- 
trinate them  thoroughly  and  to  train  them  for 
work  became  the  purpose  and  passion  of  his 
later  ministry.  *' I  pray  for  them:  I  pray 
not  for  the  world,  but  for  those  whom  thou 
hast  given  me.  For  the  words  which  thou 
gavest  me  I  have  given  unto  them ;  and  they 
received  them,  and  knew  of  a  truth  that  I 
came  forth  from  thee,  and  they  believed  that 

thou  didst  send  me.     As  thou  didst  send  me 
aa6 


THE   PASTOR  S   PERSONAL   SIAFF 

into  the  world,  even  so  sent  I  them  into  the 
world.  Neither  for  these  only  do  I  pray,  but 
for  them  also  that  believe  on  me  through 
their  word."  The  Twelve  were  more  than 
students  of  Christ's  doctrine  —  they  v/ere 
Christ's  fellow- workers.  They  were  taught 
of  Christ  not  only  what  to  believe,  but  also 
what  to  teach  and  to  do.  The  impress  of 
Christ  was  put  upon  the  men  who  were  to  be 
witnesses  to  the  world,  not  only  of  his  resur- 
rection, but  of  the  power  of  his  resurrection. 
The  truth  had  to  be  incarnated  anew  in  **the 
glorious  company  of  the  apostles."  Judas 
falls,  but  Matthias  is  chosen  in  his  place. 
Herod  slays  James,  the  brother  of  John,  with 
the  sword;  but  Saul  of  Tarsus,  whom  the 
Church  owes  to  the  prayer  of  Stephen,  has 
been  made  ready  to  take  James's  place. 
Matthias  seems  to  have  done  his  appointed 
work  quietly,  like  the  four  apostles  in  whose 
company  Judas's  name  always  appeared, 
while  another  son  of  thunder  succeeds  the 
son  of  Zebedee  to  take  his  place  with  Peter 
and  John,  alike  in  exalted  privileges  of  reve- 
lation and  of  suffering. 
227 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

When  Professor  Agassiz  was  asked  what 
he  deemed  his  greatest  work,  his  reply  was: 
**  I  deem  my  greatest  work  to  have  been  the 
scientific  training  of  three  men."  It  was  not 
what  he  himself  had  done  or  discovered  that 
gave  him  supreme  satisfaction;  it  was  what 
he  had  done  in  multiplying  himself  by  three, 
thus  giving  to  the  world  three  thoroughly 
trained  observers  and  thinkers  in  place  of 
one.  It  was  a  great  man  who  could  take 
such  delight  in  the  world  of  thought  to  be 
opened  to  men  through  the  scholars  whom 
he  had  trained,  and  who  should  continue  the 
work  of  training,  as  well  as  of  discovery, 
long  after  his  death.  That  minister  of  the 
gospel  is  wise  who  sees  that  the  once  all-con- 
trolling and  comprehensive  influence  of  the 
pulpit  is  divided  now  with  the  press,  the  law- 
yer, the  physician,  the  man  of  affairs,  as 
learning  has  been  widely  diffused.  Happy 
is  he  if  he  can  now  use  such  capable  ad- 
3uncts,  provided  he  has  been  able  to  inspire 
and  even  train  them  for  Christian  work. 
Even  one  such  trained  worker  in  the  con- 
gregation is  the  saving  of  many  a  pulpit.     It 

228 


The  pastor*s  personal  staff 

makes  the  difference  between  success  and 
failure  to  have  such  an  increment  of  power. 
In  the  arithmetic  of  the  Bible  two  are  ten 
times  more  than  one.  "  Else  how  could  one 
of  you  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  of  you  put 
ten  thousand  to  flip-ht?  " 

Most  of  the  Churches  have  the  theory  of 
such  assistants  to  the  pastor.  The  Baptist 
pastor  has  his  deacons,  the  Presbyterian  pas- 
tor his  elders,  and  the  Methodist  pastor  his 
official  board.  These  have  their  duties  de- 
fined in  the  several  forms  of  government  of 
these  different  Churches,  and  are  supposed 
to  do  something  more  than  look  after  the 
temporahties  of  the  Church.  In  the  Metho- 
dist Church  it  is  required  that  *'the  stewards 
be  men  of  solid  piety,  who  both  know  and 
love  the  Methodist  doctrine  and  discipline, 
and  of  good  natural  and  acquired  abilities  to 
transact  the  temporal  business  of  the  church." 
Has  more  care  been  exercised  to  select  men 
having  the  latter  qualification  than  the  former? 
Or,  has  the  preacher  been  willing  to  excuse 
the  steward  from  all  his  other  duties,  pro- 
vided he  look  well  after  the  temporal  inter- 
229 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

ests  of  the  church ;  and  has  he  thus  de- 
prived the  steward  of  the  blessings  which 
may  come  to  him  in  performing  his  other  du- 
ties— such  as  ''to  seek  the  sick  and  needy,  in 
order  to  reheve  and  comfort  them ;  to  inform 
the  preachers  of  any  sick  or  disorderly  per- 
sons"? What  valuable  counsel  preachers 
may  miss  when  the  stewards  fail  "  to  tell  the 
preachers  what  they  think  wrong  in  them"  ! 
Is  not  the  excessive  machinery  of  the  Church 
so  much  complained  of  due  to  our  failure  to 
use  what  we  have  according  to  the  original 
law  governing  the  duties  of  the  members  of 
the  official  board?  Moreover,  is  there  not 
serious  danger  of  secularizing  our  official 
members,  so  that  the  sole  standpoint  from 
which  they  look  at  a  pastor  is  the  ease  with 
which  they  can  make  collections  for  his  sup- 
port? 

If  the  church  be  truly  the  pastor's  force, 
and  not  simply  his  field,  then,  with  the  privi- 
lege of  nominating  his  officials  who  are  to 
constitute  his  personal  staff,  in  directing  as 
well  as  leading  that  force  in  Christian  work, 

the  Methodist  preacher  should  seek  to  devel- 
230 


THE   PASTOR  S   PERSONAL   STAFF 

op  the  best  powers  of  service  at  his  com- 
mand, as  did  our  Lord  in  the  use  which  he 
made  of  the  Gahlean  fishermen.  It  might 
be  well  after  they  are  chosen  and  confirmed 
by  the  Quarterly  Conference  to  set  them 
apart  before  the  church  with  solemn  prayer 
and  exhortation  both  to  them  and  to  the  con- 
gregation, especially  emphasizing  their  spir- 
itual duties  as  the  pastor's  helpers,  impress- 
ing them  that  it  is  their  main  business  to  fol- 
low Christ  themselves,  and  so  be  an  example 
and  pattern  to  the  congregation.  While 
many  a  pastor  would  be  glad  to  use  some 
Nicodemus  because  he  is  a  ruler,  yet  his  lack 
of  moral  courage  or  consistency  makes  it 
necessary  to  use  men  fresh  from  their  fish- 
er's nets.  Yet,  see  what  an  almost  indefinite 
power  of  growth  is  in  a  noble  soul  when  the 
pens  of  these  fishermen  can  afterwards  write 
such  a  Gospel  as  John  gave  the  Church,  or 
such  Epistles  as  some  were  able  to  leave  for 
the  sacred  canon.  The  words  which  Christ 
had  given  them  had  not  only  molded  their 
own  characters,  but  reappear  in  their  very 

language.     Witness  John's  frequent   use  of 
231 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

"'abide"  in  his  Epistle  (which  you  would  do 
well  to  underscore),  and  Peter's  forbidding 
persons  to  be  meddlers  in  other  men's  af- 
fairs as  his  Lord  had  rebuked  him  by  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  for  his  anxiety  as  to  what 
John  would  do.  **Be  courteous"  the  rude 
fisherman  has  now  begun  to  teach. 

After  Dr.  Francis  Wayland  resigned  the 
presidency  of  Brown  University  that  he 
might  give  the  rest  of  his  days  to  the  pas- 
torate, which  he  loved  so  well,  he  frequent- 
1}^  startled  some  layman  with  the  question, 
"What  are  you  doing  for  the  Lord?"  It  re- 
sulted in  deeper  consecration  to  the  service 
of  Christ,  and,  in  many  instances,  in  men 
and  women  seeking  advice  as  to  the  w^ork 
for  which  the  pastor  deemed  them  best  suit- 
ed, and  for  the  pastor's  instruction  as  they 
sought  to  do  the  work  to  which  they  were 
assigned.  This  not  only  gave  unity  to  the 
work  of  the  church,  but  led  to  those  frequent 
conferences  with  the  pastor  which  strength- 
ened both  them  and  him.  The  fruits  of  that 
pastorate   were    as    notable    as  those    of   his 

^reat  work  as   professor  and    college  presi- 

232 


THE   PASTOR  S   PERSONAL   STAFF 

dent.  How  memorable  the  official  meetings 
when  each  member  can  tell  of  some  work 
that  he  has  tried  to  do  in  soul-winning,  and 
when  the  pastor  finds  all  eager  for  directions 
and  hungry  for  the  word  of  God,  which  is 
briefly  expounded  out  of  a  full  heart  and 
mind !  Happy  the  pastor  whose  quiver  is 
full  of  such  arrows !  If  they  have  not  been 
handed  down  to  him  from  his  predecessor, 
let  him  see  that  his  own  ministry  is  not  bar- 
ren of  results  in  training  some  such  workers 
who  may  bless  the  church  for  a  generation, 
and  leave  many  successors. 

I  remember  some  years  ago  preaching, 
during  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  in  the  pul- 
pit of  a  leading  Presbyterian  church  of  the 
country.  Although  I  had  met  a  number  of 
the  officials  of  the  noble  church  during  the 
few  minutes  after  reaching  the  building,  yet, 
just  before  I  entered  the  pulpit,  the  entire 
official  body  came  into  the  pastor's  study  for 
a  few  moments,  explaining  that  this  was  their 
uniform  custom,  that  the  pastor,  as  he  en- 
tered the  pulpit,  might  know  that  the  officials 

of  his  church  were  in    prayerful    sympathy 
233 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

with  him  in  his  great  work.  Happy  is  any 
pastor  who  has  such  a  staff  of  workers  to 
aid  in  training  the  entire  church  in  Christian 
work! 

Such  training  and  use  of  his  officials  in 
Christian  work  enlarges  and  dignifies  the 
scope  of  pastoral  work.  Of  what  use  is  a 
pastoral  visit  that  does  not  help  in  word  and 
doctrine  and  work  the  souls  over  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  made  the  preacher  overseer? 
The  great  Archbishop  Leighton  used  to  dread 
that  when  he  made  a  pastoral  visit  he  '*  should 
leave  either  a  blot  or  a  blank."  Like  the 
saintly  Fletcher,  his  pastoral  visiting,  as  well 
as  his  preaching,  was  perpetually  preceded, 
accompanied,  and  followed  by  prayer.  If 
souls  are  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  unto 
good  works,  how  important  that  the  pastor 
stand  ready  to  instruct  and  train  the  work- 
ers! But  to  train  them  he  must  know  them. 
His  pastoral  visits  should  be  made  as  intelli- 
gently as  the  visits  of  a  physician,  and  the 
pastor  be  wise  to  prescribe  the  right  tonic 
from  God's  word  or  from  some  inspiring  bi- 
ography, and  the  kind  of  exercise  of  spirit- 
234 


THE   PASTOR  S   PERSONAL  STAFF 

ual  gifts  which  may  be  most  helpful.  The 
decline  of  pastoral  visiting  always  has  a  de- 
bilitating influence  on  the  spiritual  power  of 
the  pulpit.  Busy  as  was  Paul's  life,  he  vis- 
ited and  preached  from  house  to  house. 
What  minute  knowledge  did  he  not  have  of 
individuals  to  whom  he  sends  his  greetings  in 
his  letter  to  the  Romans,  as  these,  his  former 
parishioners  and  hosts  and  even  fellow-pris- 
oners, as  well  as  fellow-workers,  are  gath- 
ered in  the  metropolis  of  the  Roman  empire ! 
Next  to  our  Lord  himself,  none  ever  seemed 
so  concerned  for  the  selection  and  training 
of  Christian  workers,  or  gave  such  minute 
directions  as  to  the  best  use  of  time  and  the 
right  means  in  developing  their  strength  as 
workers  together  with  God.  **The  same 
commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  be 
able  to  teach  others  also." 

**  Continue  in  these  things;  for  in  doing 
this  thou  shalt  save  both  thyself  and  them 
that  hear  thee."  What  a  handbook  of  in- 
structions to  a  wise  pastor  are  Paul's  letters 
to  Timothy  and  to  Titus  I  Our  eyes  no 
more  need  to  be  opened  on  the  one  side  to 
235 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

truth  than  on  the  other  side  to  men.  Christ's 
tools  were  men.  Let  the  pastor  know  men, 
and  know  how  to  use  them  in  the  Lord's 
work.  The  skillful  gunner  is  not  alone  con- 
cerned to  have  the  best  possible  missiles  of 
iron  and  steel,  but  he  is  anxious  to  know  just 
where  they  strike  the  ship  of  the  enemy  and 
just  when  the  foe  strikes  his  colors.  The 
trained  engineers  in  the  hold  and  the  trained 
observers  on  the  bridge  or  in  the  turret  are 
as  necessary  as  the  trained  gunner  with  his 
lanyard.  But  what  of  a  captain  who  lets  his 
men  fire  at  random,  and  has  never  been  con- 
cerned to  train  them  for  their  work?  This  is 
the  warfare  of  ignorant  savages. 

Machinery  is  nothing  unless  there  is  power 
to  work  it.  Increase  of  machinery  is  by  no 
means  increase  in  power.  The  simplest  or- 
ganization possible,  such  as  is  necessary  to 
the  very  existence  of  the  church,  should  be 
used  intelligently  and  faithfully.  Let  not 
the  official  board  be  *'the  mired  wheel"  in 
the  church  while  many  of  its  duties  need  to 
be  undertaken  by  the   Epworth  League,  or 

by   some    of   the    excellent    societies   of   our 
236 


THE  PASTOR  S  PERSONAL  STAFF 

worthy  women.  These  organizations  mark 
an  epoch  in  the  lives  of  their  members,  be- 
cause they  have  been  taught  in  them  to  work 
for  their  Lord.  What  new  study  of  the  Bi- 
ble and  of  good  books  has  followed  member- 
ship in  these  excellent  organizations !  This 
work  should  not  be  left  undone  while  the 
other  is  being  done.  Let  the  pastor's  staff 
become  a  Christian  workers'  training  class, 
with  the  Bible  as  the  text-book.  Let  their 
meetings  be  marked  by  reports  of  personal 
work  done  and  a  comparison  of  views  or  an 
exchange  of  experiences  in  seeking  to  save 
the  lost  or  to  recover  the  erring.  Let  some 
report  from  cottage  prayer  meetings  which 
they  have  held,  and  others  from  the  converts' 
class,  where  those  newly  brought  to  our 
Lord  are  being  indoctrinated  and  taught  to 
use  their  Bible  and  to  tell  some  Simon  or 
James,  '*  We  have  found  the  Christ,"  and  to 
bring  them  to  Jesus.  Some  can  make  a  re- 
ligious census  or  directory  of  the  parish  or 
community  to  show  those  unreached  by  any 
Church.     Some   may  make  a  special   effort 

to  interest  the  workingmen  who  have  become 

237 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

alienated  from  the  house  of  God,  and  others 
yet  a  special  committee  to  welcome  the  stran- 
ger or  wayworn  traveler  whose  heaviness  of 
spirit  may  be  due  to  the  strong  attraction  of 
earthly  things.  Infinite  tact  will  be  needful 
in  meeting  all  these  varied  duties  well;  but 
who  showed  more  tact  than  our  Lord  with 
the  Samaritan  woman,  or  with  the  notorious 
publican  of  Jericho?  No  one  else  thought 
Zaccheus  worth  saving.  His  conversion 
was  an  object  lesson  to  the  whole  college  of 
apostles,  and  should  be  to  every  official  board 
tempted  to  despair  of  the  salvation  of  any  out- 
cast or  prodigal.  **He  that  winneth  souls  is 
wise  " — he  must  be. 

What  is  left  to  the  pastor  to  do  ?  After  di- 
recting the  labors  of  these  men  whom  he 
has  chosen  to  official  place  in  the  church,  he 
will  be  kept  the  busiest  man  in  the  church 
to  feed  them,  and  to  follow  up  their  work. 
What  questions  will  they  not  be  asking,  like 
the  disciples  of  our  Lord  ?  They  will  be  in 
their  places  on  Sunday  evening  to  help  gather 
in  the  harvest  for  which  they  have  been  sow- 
ing during  the  week.  The  Sunday  school, 
238 


THE  pastor's   personal   STAFF 

the  Ep worth  League,  and  all  the  other  organ- 
izations of  the  church  will  seek  and  share 
the  new  life  which  comes  from  the  pastor's 
staff,  in  which  nearly  all  will  have  represent- 
atives. 

What  time  the  pastor  has  left  can  be  given 
to  the  sexton  of  the  church,  too  often  the 
servant  of  **  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air,"  the  bad  air  that  suffocates  many  a 
preacher  and  congregation  because  they  have 
breathed  it  at  many  previous  services,  the  air 
which  extinguishes  eloquence,  hope,  aspira- 
tion, almost  piety  itself.  Let  the  pastor  not 
fail  to  regard  the  sexton  as  a  member  of  his 
personal  staff,  and  if  he  cannot  teach  him 
both  the  science  and  the  art  of  ventilation, 
get  another  one,  and  thus  escape  many  a 
*-'blue  Monday." 

239 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  CHRIST. 
i6 


And  of  the  multitude 

No  man  but  in  his  hand 
Holds  some  great  gift  misunderstood, 
Some  treasure,  for  whose  use  or  good 

His  ignorance  sees  no  demand. 

These  are  the  tokens  lent 

By  immortality, 
Birthmarks  of  our  divine  descent, 
Sureties  of  ultimate  intent, 

God's  gospel  of  eternity. 


— Saxe  Holm. 


For  now  we  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the  Lord. 

—Paul. 


XVII 

SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  CHRIST. 

In  this  day  of  skilled  labor,  unskilled  labor 
is  everywhere  at  a  discount.  Knowledge  is 
power.  To  know  how  to  do  anything  is  almost 
to  do  it.  The  problem  is  half  solved  in  his 
mind  who  knows  how  to  solve  it.  Business 
methods  have  changed  with  increased  knowl- 
edge of  the  resources  of  nature  and  of  how 
to  reach  and  develop  them.  Commerce  is 
largely  a  thing  of  skilled  labor — in  making 
the  best  goods  and  sailing  the  swiftest  ships. 
But  even  navigation  is  not  more  a  thing  of 
knowledge  than  is  war.  It  is  seasoned  and 
trained  soldiers,  men  accustomed  to  picket 
duty  and  the  drill  of  the  camp,  men  who 
have  learned  self-denial  and  self-control, 
who  do  best  service  on  the  battlefield.  It  is 
not  simply  the  gallant  charge  which  tells — it 
is  the  skill  that  plans  for  it  and  knows  when 
to  give  the  command  after  the  skilled  labor 

of  the    engineers    and    miners  and   sappers, 
243 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

and  the  breach  made  by  the  weapons  of 
precision.  Skilled  labor  everywhere  seeks 
skilled  labor,  and  both  industry  and  war 
have  been  revolutionized  by  the  discoveries 
of  science  and  new  and  better  appliances. 
To  know  how  to  avail  oneself  of  the  best 
skill  makes  the  difference  between  success 
and  failure. 

The  steam  engine  has  fought  the  great  bat- 
tles of  the  last  one  hundred  years.  James 
Watt,  when  he  devised  an  engine  to  control 
and  utilize  the  expansive  power  of  steam, 
which  **  could  forge  anchors,  lift  up  a  man- 
of-war  bodily,  and  impel  loaded  vessels 
against  the  fury  of  the  winds  and  waves," 
was  unconsciously  preparing  a  new  map  of 
the  world.  It  is  the  steam  engine  which  is 
conquering  in  China  to-day.  Japan  has 
learned  the  value  of  skilled  labor,  and  for 
the  last  twenty  years  has  had  in  her  employ 
the  best  skill  of  Europe  and  America  to  equip 
and  drill  her  soldiers,  and  to  train  her  ma- 
rines for  this  expected  struggle.  China 
meets  weapons  of  precision  with  bows  and 

arrows.    Said  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes :  **  The 

244 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR    CHRIST 

nation  that  shortens  its  weapons  lengthens  its 
boundaries."  The  day  of  the  pike  and  the 
lance  must  give  place  to  the  day  of  the  ma- 
chine guns  firing  hundreds  of  shots  each  min- 
ute. So  the  letter  of  the  merchant  has  given 
place  to  the  face-to-face  interview  of  the 
commercial  traveler,  whose  skill  is  as  much 
a  matter  of  training  as  that  of  the  physician 
or  lawyer.  It  is  an  age  of  skill ;  and  men  are 
wanted  in  places  of  trust  not  only  because 
they  are  good,  but  because  they  are  good 
for  something.  The  unemployed  to-day  are 
mostly  the  unskilled.  The  prison  statistics 
show  how  largely  the  criminal  classes  are 
from  the  unemployed  because  unskilled.  It 
is  the  indolent  classes  who  thus  become  the 
dangerous  classes.  The  worst  enemies  to 
society  are  those  whom  society  has  never 
taught  to  do  anything.  And  all  the  time  the 
room  for  the  common  or  unskilled  laborer  is 
growing  less.  Within  half  a  century  the  two 
lowest  classes  of  laborers  have  changed  from 
one-third  each  of  the  whole  number  of  labor- 
ers to  one-eighth  each  of  the  whole,  and  the 
highest  class  of  laborers  has  changed  from 
245 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

one-third  to  three-fourths  of  the  whole  num- 
ber. The  mobs  of  the  unemployed  are  al- 
ways glad  to  get  some  skilled  laborers  into 
their  ranks  to  give  color  to  the  plea  of  a  con- 
test between  labor  and  capital,  while  the  real 
battle  is  usually  raging  between  skilled  labor 
and  indolence,  which  is  but  another  name  for 
ignorance. 

The  kingdom  of  God  needs  skilled  labor, 
and  is  in  danger  lest  its  unemployed  class  be- 
come its  most  competent  class.  It  was  busy 
men,  skilled  in  some  secular  employment, 
and  thus  trained  to  some  sort  of  service,  that 
our  Lord  called  to  be  trained  for  the  highest 
forms  of  Christian  labor.  The  only  one 
among  the  apostles  who  was  not  busy  in 
some  employment  before  his  call  was  Judas, 
the  man  of  Kerioth,  who  became  the  traitor. 
It  is  the  men  and  women  in  our  churches  to- 
day who  have  skill  in  doing  something,  from 
whom  we  should  look  for  more  skilled  work 
for  their  Lord.  Let  not  the  work  of  the 
Church  be  relegated  to  those  who  have  been 
a  failure  at  everything  else,  while  the  capa- 

bles  as  teachers,  singers,  organizers,  business 

246 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   CHRIST 

men,  are  left  unemployed.  Do  we  not  have 
Sunday-school  teachers  who  could  never  ob- 
tain a  certificate  which  would  enable  them  to 
teach  anywhere  else  ?  If  we  were  to  require 
that  they  stand  an  examination  as  to  their 
fitness  to  teach,  would  there  not  be  many 
changes  in  our  staff  of  religious  instructors 
of  youth  in  our  various  churches?  Can 
Christian  work  command  the  respect  of  the 
thoughtful  if  done  by  incompetents  ?  It  were 
better  to  reduce  the  number  of  Sunday-school 
teachers  until,  by  normal-class  training  and 
other  methods,  suitable  teachers  can  be  pre- 
pared. Piety  can  never  be  a  substitute  for  a 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  any  more  than 
a  technical  knowledge  of  the  Bible  can  be  a 
substitute  for  an  experimental  knowledge  of 
its  teachings.  A  piety  that  does  not  strive  to 
have  accurate  knowledge  of  the  word  of  God 
is  sure  to  be  regarded  as  of  an  inferior  type 
and  without  influence.  Is  skill  to  be  at  a  dis- 
count only  in  the  Church  ? 

Skilled   labor  is  a   condition   of   progress 
everywhere,  and  the  Church  is  no  exception. 
The  activity  of  the  human  mind  is  the  spring 
247 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

of  advancing  civilization,  and  it  is  Christiani- 
ty that  has  quickened  the  intellect  by  bring- 
ing it  under  the  sway  of  an  awakened  con- 
science. Skill  is  really  a  power  of  the  mind 
more  than  of  the  muscles,  because  quickness 
of  perception  must  precede  readiness  and 
precision  in  manipulation.  It  was  the  mental 
labor  of  a  consecrated  Newton  which  gave 
us  the  telescope,  and  of  a  devout  Morse 
which  made  possible  the  telegrapher's  key- 
board. Wide  diffusion  of  knowledge  and 
careful  habits  of  observation,  made  possible 
by  our  holy  religion,  tend  to  increase  the 
effectiveness  of  labor.  Shall  not  Christianity 
have  the  fullest  benefits  of  them?  Edison 
lays  all  nature  under  tribute  to  find  the  right 
kind  of  carbon  for  his  incandescent  electric 
light.  The  happy  achievement  was  distinc- 
tively one  of  skill,  not  of  mere  accident.  It 
was  the  choice  among  the  best  possible 
agents.  God  is  ever  selecting  the  best  possi- 
ble agents  for  his  greatest  works.  It  was  not 
by  accident  that  Moses  was  used  to  lead 
forth  a  nation,  or  Saul  of  Tarsus  employed 

to   give   the  gospel  to   Europe.     Both  were 

248 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   CHRIST 

chosen  vessels  of  the  Lord  to  bear  his  name 
before  kings. 

The  great  concern  of  these  leaders  of  men 
was  to  see  that  others  were  equipped  to  carry 
on  the  work  of  the  Lord.  The  superb  train- 
ing which  each  had  providentially  received 
was  to  bear  fruit  in  the  person  of  a  Joshua  or 
a  Timothy,  who  should  be  wise  to  lead  or 
*'apt  to  teach/'  Our  government  depends 
on  the  thorough  training  of  a  few  West 
Pointers  for  the  creation  of  an  army.  It  is 
these  trained  soldiers  who,  by  tireless  drill 
and  strict  discipline,  get  ready  the  men  who 
fight  our  battles.  They  look  upon  a  regi- 
ment of  men  **not  as  their  field,  but  as  their 
force."  General  Sheridan  when  asked  the 
secret  of  military  success  replied;  **A11  that 
you  need  to  do  is  to  know  your  geography 
and  to  fight  your  men."  It  is  the  noncom- 
batants  in  the  Church  that  cause  us  such 
solicitude.  They  have  been  taught  every- 
thing but  personal  service  for  the  King.  The 
work  of  a  pastor  is  not  done  by  simply  ex- 
pounding the  Scriptures,  or  calling  sinners  to 

repentance.     "For  we  are  his  workmanship, 

249 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good 
works."  That  ministry  fails  of  its  best  re- 
sults that  does  not  develop  a  working  church. 
**The  church  at  work"  needs  training  class- 
es, which  the  pastor  should  be  prepared  to 
instruct,  and  the  report  of  whose  labors 
should  fill  his  soul  with  such  joy  as  the  Mas- 
ter had  when  the  Seventy  returned  with  the 
account  of  their  labors.  They  saw  devils 
cast  out;  he  saw  Satan  falling  like  lightning 
from  heaven.  It  is  such  skilled  labor  that 
should  be  the  aim  of  the  wise  pastor.  No 
men  were  ever  so  eager  to  hear  as  the  disci- 
ples after  they  were  put  to  work.  To  be 
doing  the  Lord's  work  gives  new  meaning  to 

the  Lord's  words. 

250 


OUR  METHODIST  LITURGY. 


Wherefore  did  I  contrive  for  thee  that  ear 
Hungry  for  music,  and  direct  thine  eye 
To  where  I  hold  a  seven -stringed  instrument, 
Unless  I  meant  thee  to  beseech  me  play. 

— Browning-^ 


XVIII 

OUR  METHODIST  JLITURGY. 

It  is  the  little  rift  within  the  lute, 

That  by  and  by  will  inake  the  music  mute, 

And  ever  widening  slowly  silence  all. 

When  did  it  originate  ?  Was  it  during  the 
war,  when  our  people  were  short  of  Disci- 
plines and  the  preacher  had  to  give  both 
question  and  answer?  Or  does  it  date  from 
before  the  war,  when  our  missionaries  among 
the  colored  people,  often  our  strongest  men, 
because  of  the  inability  of  the  candidates  to 
read,  needed  to  put  the  correct  answers  in 
their  mouth?  I  mean  the  reprehensible,  not 
to  say  slovenly,  custom  which  has  found 
footing  among  us  of  the  preacher  saying, 
**  The  answer  is,"  and  thus  putting  in  their 
mouths  the  answer  for  the  candidates  for  bap- 
tism and  reception  into  the  Church.  With 
as  much  reason  the  bishop  should  say,  '*  The 
answer  is,"  when  he  ordains  the  deacons  and 
elders;  so,  too,  when  a  bishop  is  being  con- 
secrated, it  would  be  equally  proper  to  tell 
253 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

him,  **The  answer  is."  Why  not?  Be- 
cause the  candidates  for  ordination  have  their 
Disciplines  with  them.  Is  there  any  reason 
why  a  candidate  for  baptism  or  Church  mem- 
bership should  not  also  have  his  Discipline 
with  him  when  he  takes  upon  him  the  sol- 
emn vows?  If  he  has  none,  does  he  suffi- 
ciently appreciate  the  sacred  privileges  and 
duties  before  him  to  justify  either  baptism  or 
Church  membership?  If  he  has  none,  whose 
fault  is  it?  Some  official  boards  and  many 
pastors  see  that  a  supply  is  kept  on  hand  for 
so  sacred  an  hour,  and  should  the  candidate 
be  unable  to  buy  one,  then  one  is  given  him 
in  the  name  of  the  church,  so  that  after 
careful  reading  he  may  intelligently  answer 
the  questions  propounded,  in  place  of  being 
treated  as  if  he  could  not  read,  and  the  an- 
swer repeated  parrot-like.  Better  a  hundred- 
fold the  six  months'  probation  in  which  he 
might  be  taught  to  read  than  the  careless  and 
disparaging  custom  of  putting  the  words  in 
his  mouth.  In  any  event  no  pastor  should 
deem  a  candidate  ready  for  baptism  or 
Church  membership  who  did  not  know  the 
354 


OUR   METHODIST  LITURGY 

answers  to  the    questions,  whether   he    read 
them  or  repeat  them  from  memory. 

In  his  admirable  "  Commentary  on  the 
Ritual,"  which  should  be  carefully  read  by 
every  preacher,  Dr.  Summers  well  says:  **It 
is  much  to  be  desired  that  while  the  Metho- 
dists keep  clear  from  the  Romanizing  follies 
of  those  called  *  Ritualists  ' — who  ought  to  be 
designated  by  a  term  far  less  innocent — they 
should  not  veer  to  the  other  extreme,  that  of 
carelessness  and  slovenliness  in  conducting 
the  worship  of  God,  especially  in  those  parts 
of  it  for  which  the  ritual  is  specially  pre- 
pared." The  language  of  Jeremiah  should 
startle  us:  ''Cursed  be  he  that  doeth  the 
work  of  the  Lord  negligently.''^  If  it  was 
deemed  important  for  ''the  Church  in  the 
wilderness  "  to  do  everything  "  according  to 
the  pattern  shown  them  in  the  mount";  and 
if  Paul  deemed  it  important  to  tell  just  how 
the  Lord  instituted  and  celebrated  the  Last 
Supper  in  order  to  save  the  Corinthian  be- 
lievers from  disorderly  conduct,  so  every  or- 
ganization claiming  to  be  a  Church  should 
be  self-respecting  enough  to  see  that  there 
255 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

is  sufficient  uniformity  in  public  worship  to 
make  it  helpful.  **For  God  is  not  a  God 
of  confusion,  but  of  peace;  as  in  all  the 
churches  of  the  saints."  It  is  a  wise  prov- 
erb, *'Let  not  the  fisherman  worship  his 
nets."  But  a  fisherman  without  nets  might 
well  change  his  calling.  A  Church  without 
forms  is  like  an  Qgg  without  a  shell.  The 
shell  is  not  the  egg,  but  the  shell  keeps  the 
egg  from  wasting.  The  origin  of  the  beau- 
tiful service  of  the  Church  of  England  which 
Mr.  Wesley  loved  and  used  throughout  his 
life,  and  whose  forms  of  baptism  and  admin- 
istration of  the  Lord's  Supper  we  have  fol- 
lowed since  the  organization  of  our  Church, 
is  traceable  to  a  determined  effort  to  stop 
the  great  confusion  in  public  worship.  The 
quaint  language  used  was,  '*And  whereas 
heretofore  there  hath  been  great  diversity  in 
saying  and  singing  in  Churches  within  this 
Realm,  some  following  Salisbury  Use  and 
some  Hereford  Use,  and  some  the  Use  of 
Bangor,  some  of  York,  some  of  Lincoln: 
now    henceforth    all  the  whole    Realm  shall 

have  but  one   Use."     This  law  is   now  the 
256 


OUR   METHODIST  LITURGY 

best  safeguard  against  the  abuses  of  the  An- 
glo-Catholics who  v/ould  fain  eat  the  bread  of 
the  Church  of  England  while  they  introduce 
the  confession,  orientation,  and  other  Rom- 
ish features. 

The  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  their  address  to  their  General 
Conference  a  session  or  two  ago,  called  at- 
tention to  a  growing  tendency  toward  irregu- 
larities in  public  worship  among  their  church- 
es. They  went  so  far  as  to  state  that,  al- 
though bishops  of  the  Church,  they  were 
at  great  disadvantage  in  conducting  pubHc 
worship,  due  to  the  strange  and  unauthorized 
customs  which  had  grown  up  under  different 
pastors.  In  some  places  there  was  conform- 
ity to  the  simplicity  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  in  others  to  the  elaborate  serv- 
ice  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  as  if 
there  were  no  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
with  its  own  appointed  services  and  order  of 
public  worship,  and  preachers  had  to  do  the 
best  they  could  in  borrowing  from  the  serv- 
ices of  organized  Churches  that  had  pro- 
vided such  forms  of  service!  This  is  In- 
^7  257 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

dependency,  not  Methodism.  Any  Church 
will  soon  lose  what  is  distinctive,  and  cease 
to  stand  for  anything  in  particular,  where 
there  is  such  indifference  to  the  forms  and 
order  of  public  worship  ordered  by  its  high- 
est legislative  body.  Jehovah  deemed  the 
appointed  order  of  worship  so  important  in 
helping  the  children  of  Israel  that  he  wisely 
forbade  their  inquiring  how  the  heathen  wor- 
shiped their  gods,  lest  they  introduce  some 
of  their  inhuman  and  immoral  customs,  and 
said:  **What  thing  soever  I  command  you, 
observe  to  do  it:  thou  shalt  not  add  thereto 
nor  diminish  from  it."  Surely  in  those  two 
holy  sacraments  instituted  by  our  Lord  there 
should  be  observed  all  the  proprieties  in 
their  celebration  that  the  Church  in  her  wis- 
dom has  ordained,  that  we  may  the  better 
worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness. 

How  beautiful  the  sacramental  services 
when  conducted  according  to  the  rubrics, 
which  were  formerly  printed  in  red  letters — 
whence  their  name,  rubrics — that  the  direc- 
tions given  should  the  more  surely  attract 
the  attention.  The  elder  consecrating  the 
3S8 


OUR    METHODIST   LITURGY 

bread  and  wine  for  the  Lord's  Supper  is  di- 
rected to  take  thereof  in  both  kinds  himself 
before  administering  to  other  ministers,  just 
as  the  other  ministers  take  thereof  in  both 
kinds    before   administering   to    the   conore- 
gation,   signifying   that  their  only   hope  and 
fitness  to    minister  to  others  is  through  the 
atonement  of  Christ  which  is  being  thus  ad- 
ministered to  all  truly  penitent  souls.     How 
important  that  the  services  be  not  hurried  in 
the  unwarranted  attempt  to  administer  both 
the  bread  and  the  wine  to  each  communicant 
at  once  I     So    important   is   this   that  in   the 
directions   given   by   the   Church   for  public 
worship  it  is  ordered:    *«Let  the  service  pre- 
ceding the  administration  be  so  proportioned 
as  to  admit  of  due  time  for  this  solemn  ordi- 
nance."    Better  far  a   brief  sacramental  ad- 
dress, in  place  of  sermon,  than  a  mutilated 
sacramental  service,  by  reason  of  the  haste 
attending   its  celebration.      How   unpardon- 
able, too,  the  haste  in  concluding  the  public 
worship  by  omitting  the  closing  prayer  which 
our  order  requires  should  follow  the   hymn 
immediately  after  the  sermon,  and  substitut- 
259 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE  MASTER 

ing  the  benediction  in  its  place,  and  that  any 
extemporized  benediction  in  place  of  the 
apostolic  benediction  as  directed  in  our  Dis- 
cipline. Can  any  one  wonder  at  the  unseem- 
ly hurry  to  get  on  their  overcoats  shown  by 
some  persons  in  the  congregation  when  the 
unseemly  haste  of  the  preacher  to  close  the 
service  robs  the  house  of  God  of  its  sacred- 
ness,  and  makes  it  a  waiting  room  between 
cars?  A  few  sentences  of  prayer  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  services,  when  the  hearer  is 
brought  face  to  face  with  God  and  the  mes- 
sage, are  like  the  selvage  which  keeps  the 
cloth  from  unraveling,  or  the  dike  which 
holds  the  current  in  its  place  and  keeps  it 
from  wasting  itself  in  the  sand.  Surely  the 
danger  feared  by  some  that  the  pulpit  is  los- 
ing its  hold  upon  the  supernatural  is  in- 
creased if  there  be  such  remissness  in  con- 
ducting public  worship.  In  some  Methodist 
churches  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  omitted  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  opening  prayer,  regardless 
of  the  directions  of  the  Discipline,  and  the 
novel  features  introduced  into  the  order  of 

worship  might  raise  the  question  as  to  wheth- 

260 


OUR   METHODIST   LITURGY 

er  the  preacher  himself  had  the  least  idea 
as  to  what  he  would  do  next.  Did  the 
preacher  have  any  mental  reservations  when 
he  promised  to  *'  act  in  all  things  not  accord- 
ing to  his  own  will,  but  as  a  son  in  the  gos- 
pel, and  do  not  mend  our  rules,  but  keep 
them;  not  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience 
sake"?  Even  the  question  as  to  whether 
the  closing  prayer  should  immediately  follow 
the  sermon,  or  whether  the  hymn  should  in- 
tervene, was  fully  discussed  in  a  General 
Conference,  and  the  present  order  of  public 
service  adopted  after  much  consideration. 
If  a  preacher  prefers  the  order  of  worship 
of  some  other  Church  than  the  one  whose 
order  and  rules  he  is  pledged  to  observe,  has 
he  not  made  a  mistake  in  his  Church  rela- 
tions? Or,  if  he  prefers  an  order  of  his  own, 
can  he  claim  to  be  consistent  in  having 
pledged  observance  of  rules  which  he  con- 
stantly ignores? 

Besides,  Methodism  has  no  need  to  borrow 
when  she  herself  is  so  rich.  In  our  Discipline 
and  beautiful  ritual  it  is  conceded  by  some 
of  her  learned  canons  that  we  'lave  **the  very 

i6i 


SKILLED    LABOR    FOR    THE    MASTER 

cream  of  the  English  Church,"  which  came 
to  us  through  one  of  her  greatest  sons,  our 
founder.     In    addition,    through    our    choice 
hymnology   we    have    greatly  enriched   both 
our  own  service  and  that  of  other  Churches. 
There  is  not  a  single  evangelical  Church,  in- 
cluding the  Church  of  England,  that  does  not 
use  some  of  Charles  Wesley's  hymns  as  best 
expressing  the  true  spirit  of  devotion  and  of 
praise.     Manyof  Watts's  hymns,  the  sweetest 
and  loftiest  of  them,  were  the  lyrical  utter- 
ances of  the  mind  in  sermonizing,  and  were 
appended  to  his  sermons  as  presenting  in  poet- 
ical form  what  he  had  taught  in  the  pulpit. 
Helpful  as  many  of  them  are,  he  said  that  the 
hymn  of  Charles  Wesley  on  '*  Wrestling  Ja- 
cob "  was  worth  all  the  verses  he  himself  had 
written,  while  the  poet  Montgomery  compared 
it  to  the  action  of  a  lyrical  drama.     While  the 
highest   form   of   poetry  is  not  didactic,  yet 
Methodism    owes   more   than    she   can  ever 
know  to  the  didactic  poetry  of  Charles  Wes- 
ley.    He  put  divinity,  whole  systems  of  it,  into 
the    minds    and   hearts  of  the  people  in  the 

sweet  songs  which  he  taught  them  to   sing. 

262 


OUR  METHODIST  LITURGY 

The  **  Theology  of  Our  Hymns  "  is  a  theme 
which    may   well   occupy   the  minds  of   our 
thoughtful  preachers  and  laymen,  as  they  find 
that  the  absence  of  any  serious  doctrinal  dif- 
ferences in  Methodism  has  been  largely  due 
to  the  hymns  we  sing  in  common  throughout 
the  world.     Nor  are  they  alone  didactic,  but 
often  reach  the  high-water  mark  of  true  lyric- 
al poetry  in  the  expression  of  the  emotions  and 
best  aspirations  of  the  heart.     It  is  to  this  lat- 
ter fact,  as  in  the  case  of  all  the  best  hymns 
since  the  song  of  Moses  by  Egypt's  dark  sea 
(which  he  alone  of  all  that  multitude  could 
have  written),  that  they  have  such  a  hold  on 
the  human  heart.     Take  Wesley's  hymns  in 
which  the  personal  pronouns  *'I"  and*' my" 
are  most  frequent,  as  in  **  Wrestling  Jacob," 
and  they  are  the  wings  on  which  countless 
souls  have  come  into  the  kingdom,   and  on 
which  they  have  been  borne  up  when  all  the 
billows  would  else  have  gone  over  them,  even 
while  about  their  Lord's  business.     Many  a 
Paul  and  Silas  knows  what  it  means  to  sing 
praises   with  the  feet  fast  in  the  stocks.     It 
was  part  of  the  Martyr's  Hymn  that  Paul  was 
263 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

singing  when  he  wrote  his  last  letter  to  Tim- 
othy (2  Tim.  ii.  11-13)  until  his  pen  caught 
its  music  that  had  at  times  shaken  down 
prison  walls. 

So  rich  in  lofty  sentiment  as  well  as  whole- 
some meditation  is  our  Hymn  Book  that  it  has 
been  fitly  called  the  **  Methodist  Liturgy." 
Unlike  our  British  Wesleyan  brethren,  we  by 
no  means  confine  ourselves  chiefly  to  Wesley's 
hymns,  varied  and  helpful  as  they  are,  but 
have  drawn  freely  upon  the  best  hymns  of  all 
ages.  To  acquaint  our  people  with  them, 
and  to  secure  their  general  use  in  both  public 
and  private  worship,  is  to  do  for  this  genera- 
tion what  the  hymns  of  the  Wesleys  did  in 
the  last  century  in  giving  character  to  public 
worship  throughout  England.  Thus  they  are 
described  by  Green  in  his  account  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Wesleyan  movement  among  all 
classes  of  people,  until  the  songs  of  the  Cor- 
nish miners  could  be  heard  above  the  sob- 
bings of  the  sea.  To  know  them  is  to  have 
one's  language  saturated  with  their  speech, 
one's  mind  fed  with  their   pure   teachings, 

one's  heart  warmed  by  their  holy  aspirations, 
264 


OUR   METHODIST  LITURGY 

and  one's  taste  so  elevated  as  to  despise 
doggerel  and  vain  repetitions  in  which  there 
is  neither  thought  nor  music.  These  latter 
might  do  for  the  dull  ears  of  heathen  gods, 
but  what  about  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  hosts 
accustomed  to  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
song  of  the  Lamb  ?  If  we  must  often  worship 
with  untrained  voice,  there  is  no  need  that  we 
should  use  other  than  real  "psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  our 
hearts  unto  God."  Only  thus  may  we  *' teach 
and  admonish  one  another,"  which  the  apos- 
tle deems  is  one  of  the  ends  of  our  worship  in 
holy  song.  It  is  good  music  and  noble  sen- 
timent alone  that  can  cast  out  devils,  and  of 
which  Satan  is  as  afraid  as  of  a  word  of  God 
sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword.  He  is 
never  disturbed  by  the  other  kind,  which, 
like  the  unjust  judge,  neither  fears  God  nor 
regards  man. 

When  the  Greeks  forgot  the  epics  of  Homer 
and  the  lyrics  of  Pindar,  they  forgot  the  laws 
of  Lycurgus  and  of  Solon  and  the  golden  age 
of    Pericles.     When    Methodists    forget  the 

hymns  of  Charles  Wesley,  of  Montgomery, 
26s 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

and  of  Cowper,  they  will  forget  the  clear 
teachings  of  John  Wesley  and  of  John  Fletch- 
er and  the  powerful  reasoning  of  Richard 
Watson  and  the  golden  age  of  Methodist 
preaching.  Dr.  Tillett's  admirable  and  able 
book  on  '*Our  Hymns  and  Their  Authors'' 
should  be  in  universal  use  among  our  preach- 
ers in  their  private  devotions  and  pulpit  ad- 
ministrations as  helping  to  conserve  and  pro- 
mote the  knowledge  of  our  Methodist  Litur- 
gy. The  saddlebags  that  carried  the  Bible, 
the  Hymn  Book,  and  the  Discipline  did  a 
work  for  our  nation  and  the  world  that  entitles 
them  to  an  apotheosis  by  the  side  of  the  sword 
of  Washington  and  the  pen  of  Jefferson, 
should  our  people  ever  worship  the  symbols 
of  great  achievements  which   belong   to  an 

heroic  age. 

366 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


In  countless  upward- striving  waves 
The  moon-drawn  tide-wave  strives^ 

In  thousand  far-transplanted  grafts 
The  parent  fruit  survives ; 

So  in  the  new-bom  millions, 
The  perfect  Adam  lives. 


XIX 

THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 

There  will  be  a  Church  of  the  future.  It 
mil  be  a  household  of  faith,  '*  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  cor- 
ner stone."  The  traveler  from  New  Zea- 
land who,  ''in  the  midst  of  a  vast  solitude, 
takes  his  stand  on  a  broken  arch  of  London 
Bridge  to  sketch  the  ruins  of  St.  Paul's," 
will  be  a  Christian.  It  is  the  Christian  re- 
ligion alone  which  can  teach  the  cannibal 
either  to  cross  the  ocean  or  to  sketch.  What- 
ever the  future  has  in  store  for  individual  na- 
tions, we  confidently  expect  the  survival  of 
Christianity,  the  mother  of  commerce  and 
art  to  the  once  pagan  South  Sea  Islands. 
The  spiral  movement  in  the  history  of  the 
race  tells  of  the  presence  of  a  power  which 
makes  for  righteousness.  Christianity  is  im- 
mortal till  its  work  is  done.  Civilized  so- 
ciety rests  on  religion,  and  free  government 

prospers  best  among  religious  people.     The 
269 


SKILLED    LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

progress  of  the  race  toward  civilization  and 
free  government,  no  less  than  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  race,  depends  upon  the  Church. 
Persecution  cannot  destroy  her,  and  revolu- 
tions cannot  stay  her  advance.  The  blood 
of  her  martyrs  has  always  been  seed,  and  she 
gathers  her  harvests  from  the  furrows  of  rev- 
olutions. 

Why  the  Church?  Because  the  Christian 
religion  is  a  divine  life  wrought  in  the  soul  of 
the  believer  in  Jesus,  and  is  marked  by  the 
instinct  to  propagate  itself  by  diffusion,  and 
to  this  end  must  have  organization.  This 
organization  is  the  Church.  It  is  only  in  a 
social  state  that  man's  faculties,  whether  in- 
tellectual or  moral,  attain  any  high  degree  of 
development,  and  man  naturally  seeks  com- 
munion with  other  believers  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  his  own  spiritual  life.  The  Church 
thus  becomes  the  expression  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  through  her  agency  this  king- 
dom is  to  become  effective  in  the  world.  It 
is  founded  alike  upon  eternal  truth  and  man's 
deepest  needs,  and  is  imperishable.     Sooner 

shall  society  cease,  the  family  perish,  letters, 
270 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

art,  science  disappear,  than  man  be  willing 
to  give  up  a  religion  which  was  founded  by 
the  Creator,  and  is  best  adapted  to  man's  in- 
tellectual, social,  and  spiritual  needs;  and  it 
is  this  religion  so  instinct  with  life  that  fur- 
nishes its  own  outward  expression  and  organ- 
ization in  the  Church. 

We  must  not  make  too  much  of  the  visibil- 
ity of  the  Church.  It  is  not  a  sort  of  organic 
life  imposed  upon  society  in  an  outward  way. 
Where  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  there  is  the 
Church,  and  Jesus  has  declared  that  the 
smallest  possible  assembly,  two  or  three  gath- 
ered in  his  name,  may  expect  that  presence. 
The  Church  existed  in  the  house  of  Aquila 
and  Priscilla,  whether  in  Ephesus  or  Corinth 
or  Rome,  as  it  existed  long  afterwards  in  the 
mountain  fastnesses  of  Italy.  The  Church 
is  the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  and  while  it 
cannot  but  find  outward  expression  in  order 
to  be  the  light  of  the  world  and  the  salt  of 
the  earth,  yet  it  is  not  the  imposing  charac- 
ter of  its  outward  expression  which  consti- 
tutes its  power.  At  the  same  time  a  low  es- 
timate of  its  mission,  lessened  activity,  and  a 
371 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

silent  or  weak  and  uninfluential  pulpit  will 
affect  alike  its  outward  form  and  neutralize 
its  hidden  power.  If  it  has  kept  the  faith, 
the  fact  will  appear  in  outward  fruits  and 
mighty  works. 

The  Church  of  Christ  cannot  survive  her 
credentials.  Those  credentials  are  the  same 
as  her  Lord's — what  is  being  done  for  hu- 
manity. Her  witnesses,  her  epistles  read 
and  known  of  all,  are  the  men  and  women 
whom  she  produces.  Her  finished  product, 
her  crowning  glory,  is  a  regenerated  world. 

The  field  of  work  where  the  Church  of 
the  future  is  to  be  most  severely  tested  is 
in  Christendom,  and  among  the  populations 
which  she  has  uplifted  and  quickened.  There 
are  no  foes  aw^aiting  her  in  heathen  lands  dif- 
ferent from  what  she  has  already  overcome. 
The  bitter  hate  of  a  proud  Judaism,  the  re- 
lentless persecution  of  paganism,  the  organ- 
ized powers  of  imperial  Rome  seeking  her 
overthrow,  cannot  be  exceeded  by  any  op- 
posing forces  in  the  future.  But  while  the 
Church  is  evangelizing  heathen  lands,  are 
not  Christian  nations  in  danger  of  becoming 

212 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

paganized?  Can  any  heathen  nation  show 
men  more  indifferent  to  the  fact  of  the  incar- 
nation of  our  Lord,  and  striving  to  solve  the 
problems  of  life  with  greater  ignorance  of  a 
revelation,  than  is  the  case  among  intellec- 
tual men  in  the  great  Christian  nations  of 
the  world?  Can  any  heathen  nation  show 
greater  self-indulgence  and  devotion  to  pleas- 
ure among  her  sons  of  wealth  than  is  the 
case  among  the  rich  of  Christian  Europe  and 
America?  It  is  Christianity  which  has  made 
possible  this  large  wealth  and  the  generous 
culture  of  our  day;  but  does  she  control 
them  ?  Does  she  still  have  the  ear  of  the  in- 
tellectual, and  is  she  able  still  to  command 
the  resources  of  the  rich  for  her  Lord?  Can 
she  save  the  rich  man  from  selfishness  and 
the  scholar  from  pride  of  intellect  and  unbe- 
lief? Is  there  a  disposition  to  neglect  these 
classes  under  the  professed  desire  of  giving 
the  gospel  to  the  poor?  The  Church  of  the 
future  must  neglect  none  of  her  offspring. 
No  Church  can  survive  v/hich  does  not  dom- 
inate the  intellect  of  man.     French  infidelitv 

./ 

in  the  eighteenth  century  flourished  because 
i8  273 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

it  dominated  the  intellect  of  France,  while 
orthodoxy  was  the  badge  of  ignorance  and 
stupidity.  There  are  no  classes  of  society 
more  neglected  to-day  than  the  neglected 
rich.  Organized  efforts  are  made  to  reach 
the  poor,  who  are  easier  of  access,  but  the 
rich  are  often  left  to  be  overcome  by  the 
peculiar  temptations  which  are  incident  to 
material  prosperity,  and  stewards  of  God's 
bounty  use  in  luxurious  living  what  might 
be  available  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 
While  it  is  the  glory  of  the  Church  that  she 
gives  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  it  is  her  re- 
proach if  she  cannot  hold  and  mold  for  the 
kingdom  of  God  her  prosperous  sons  and 
her  educated  minds.  Her  power  must  not 
simply  be  felt  in  given  classes  of  society,  it 
must  pervade  the  whole.  The  contributions 
for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  must  not 
simply  be  the  offerings  of  the  poor,  while 
the  contributions  of  the  English  aristocracy, 
as  we  have  been  told,  *' would  not  buy  the 
leg  of  a  race  horse."  The  Church  must  re- 
member that  the  lapsed  classes  are  at  the  top 

of   society  no  less  than    at  the  bottom,  and 
274 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

that  she  must  prove  her  mission  by  reaching 
and  saving  both.  *'The  kings  of  Sheba 
and  Seba  shall  offer  gifts,"  and  the  v^ise  men 
shall  bring  presents  as  the  power  of  our  holy 
religion  makes  itself  more  deeply  felt.  In 
our  ultimate  mission  to  convert  the  world  we 
must  not  forget  the  equally  important  work, 
because  a  means  to  that  end,  of  edification  of 
believers. 

The    two    mighty   agencies    by    means    of 
which  the  Church  is  to   do  her  twofold  work 
of  edification  and  evangelization  are  the  maj- 
esty of  truth    and  the    power  of    sympathy. 
These  constitute  the  glory  of  the  Church,  as 
they  did  of  her  Lord.     The  Church  must  be 
foremost  to  know  and  proclaim  the  truth,  the 
readiest  in  manifestation  of  sympathy.     The 
Church  cannot  cease   to  grow  intellectually 
and  maintain  the   respect  of  an   intellectual 
age.     The    Church  cannot  be  indifferent   to 
any  of  the  achievements  of  the  human  intel- 
lect which  Christianity  has  emancipated,  and 
which    Christianity  has    taught   to   refuse  as 
truth  all  that  remains  unproved,  and  to  re- 
fuse any  theory  which  does  not  bear  its  cre- 
275 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

dentials  in  its  hands.  Rather  let  the  Church 
be  foremost  in  her  spirit  of  reverent  scien- 
tific inquiry  in  her  institutions  of  learning, 
studying  the  works  of  God  while  her  pulpit 
leads  in  studying  and  expounding  the  word 
of  God.  Remembering  that  the  differences 
between  science  and  religion  are  largely  dif- 
ferences of  interpretation  of  the  works  of  the 
same  Creator,  let  us  not  be  too  ready  to  ac- 
cept new  interpretations,  on  the  one  hand,  or 
unwilling,  on  the  other,  to  accept  what  is  sat- 
isfactory to  the  best  minds  accustomed  to 
sift  and  weigh  evidence.  All  truth  belongs 
to  believers.  Let  them  fear,  much  less  de- 
spise, none.  While  the  Church  may  be  an- 
noyed by  men  who  are  arrogant  in  their  pre- 
tensions and  irreverent  in  their  speech,  yet 
she  cannot  consent  to  be  placed  in  antag- 
onism toward  the  reverent  search  for  truth. 
While  the  younger  minds  may  be  marked  by 
a  centrifugal  tendency  in  their  eagerness  to 
embrace  what  is  new,  we  have  the  older  minds 
who  help  by  a  centripetal  power  to  keep  the 
Church   in  her  true  orbit.     The  pulpit  and 

truth  stand  or  fall  together.     Nor  is  it  mere 
276 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

conjecture  that  will  pass  for  truth.  The  pul- 
pit is  strong  as  it  is  reenforced  by  the  author- 
ity of  God,  especially  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
The  Church  no  less  than  her  Lord  can  say: 
*'  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause 
came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  might  bear  wit- 
ness unto  the  truth."  Then  she  may  also 
with  equal  force  declare:  '*  Every  one  that 
is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice."  The 
Church  of  the  future  will  b«  no  less  the  de- 
fender of  the  faith  while  she  is  the  champion 
of  the  truth. 

Let  knowledge  grow  from  more  to  more, 
But  more  of  reverence  in  us  dwell; 
That  mind  and  soul  according  well, 

May  make  one  music  as  before. 

But  vaster. 

But  Christianity  proclaims  no  truth  which 
is  not  also  the  motive  to  the  performance  of 
some  duty.  All  truth  is  for  the  betterment 
and  uplifting  of  the  race.  Just  as  a  decline 
in  religious  belief  affects  unfavorably  the 
morals  of  a  people,  so  positive  beliefs  mean 
better  morals.  **  The  age  of  humanity  fol- 
lowed Christianity."     It  was  belief  in  man's 

true  origin  in  a  single  Creator,  and  not  his 

277 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE  MASTER 

multiplicit}^  of  origins  as  taught  by  polytheism 
with  its  many  gods  claiming  creative  power, 
which  led  to  the  belief  in  the  brotherhood  of 
the  race.  It  is  a  man's  belief  in  the  immor- 
tality of  the  souls  of  his  fellow-men  which 
prompts  the  largest  sympathies  and  arouses 
the  most  tireless  service  for  their  good.  In 
this  field  of  sympathy  and  service  the  Church 
is  not  without  her  rivals.  Just  as  she  allows 
other  agencies  to  do  her  legitimate  work 
does  she  lose  some  of  her  most  weighty  cre- 
dentials. Humanitarianism  under  different 
names  is  seeking  a  Christless  society  by  sub- 
jugating all  nature  to  man's  service  in  a  per- 
fect social  state.  But  the  true  reorganiza- 
tion of  society  is  its  regeneration.  The  Son 
of  man  is  the  real  ruler  among  men.  His 
religion  commands  the  thought  of  the  race 
because  in  the  Christian  religion  man  is  next 
to  God.  '*  If  a  man  love  not  his  brother 
whom  he  has  seen,  how  can  he  love  God 
whom  he  has  not  seen?" 

The  Church  of  the  future  must  get  nearer 
to  the  unfortunate.     She  must  be  the  good  Sa- 
maritan rather  than  the  priest  or  the  Levite. 
27S 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

She  must  be  manj-handed  to  minister  to  hu- 
man need  and  sorrow.  She  must  not  only 
keep  abreast  of  the  world's  progress  in  those 
things  which  will  humanize  men;  she  must 
lead  that  progress.  She  must  be  foremost  in 
all  the  humanities,  as  was  her  Lord.  Un- 
der her  touch,  as  under  his,  let  it  be  said: 
'*The  bhnd  see,  the  deaf  hear,  the  lame 
walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  poor 
have  the  gospel  preached  unto  them."  The 
Church  must  be  the  great  mediator  between 
the  different  classes  of  society  by  reachino- 
all  those  classes.  The  power  of  sympathy 
will  best  melt  away  antagonisms.  The  de- 
sire for  service  is  best  gratified  in  these  hu- 
man and  divine  ministries,  knowing  that  in- 
asmuch as  we  do  these  acts  of  mercy  to  the 
least  of  his  disciples,  we  do  them  unto  Christ. 
Those  acts  of  sympathy  and  love  are  needed 
to  overcome  the  selfishness  and  pride  which 
would  become  so  unseemly  did  not  Chris- 
tianity give  such  means  for  the  edification  of 
believers.  It  is  a  sympathetic  Church,  one 
alive  to  human  need  and  sorrow,  which  can 

be  stirred  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 
279 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

The  Church  of  the  future  will  be  powerless 
before  the  problem  of  the  world's  conversion 
without  a  full  consecration  of  brain  and  heart 
and  purse  that  work.  The  power  of  the  apos- 
tolic Church  was  seen  in  the  dedication  of 
their  all  to  the  work  of  saving  the  world. 
But  that  was  a  small  world  compared  with 
ours.  The  territory  embraced  in  the  Ameri- 
can republic  is  twice  that  embraced  in  the 
Roman  empire  in  the  proudest  day  of  its  his- 
tory. More  tongues  are  spoken  in  our  bor- 
ders than  ever  Rome  compelled  to  subjec- 
tion. In  this  mighty  work  of  the  world's 
conversion  we  must  have  disciplined,  trained 
workers,  and  an  unbroken  front.  Our  forces 
must  not  be  weakened  before  the  ramparts 
of  heathenism  by  some  Achan  eager  for  the 
wedge  of  gold  and  the  Babylonish  garment, 
more  anxious  for  the  profits  from  the  sale  of 
opium  or  rum  than  for  the  salvation  of  the 
heathen.  The  work  before  the  Church  of 
the  future  in  the  overthrow  of  paganism  is 
none  other  than  the  casting  out  of  evil  spirits, 
and  this  kind  goeth  not  out  save  by  prayer 

and    fasting.       A    thoroughly     consecrated 

280 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

Church  alone  can  be  intrusted  with  the  con- 
version of  the  world,  for  she  will  give  impress 
to  her  converts.  The  joys  of  maternity  can 
be  given  only  where  there  are  the  throes  of 
childbirth.  Zion  must  travail  if  she  would 
become  the  joyful  mother  of  children. 

Every  two  centuries  during  the  past  millen- 
nium  we  have  witnessed  some  wonderful 
movement  of  the  Church  of  God.  In  the 
twelfth  century  it  was  the  work  of  faith 
among  the  Waldenses  in  southern  France 
and  northern  Italy.  In  the  fourteenth  it  was 
the  work  of  Wyclif  and  the  Lollards  in  En- 
gland, as  they  gave  the  Bible  to  the  English- 
speaking  people,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
the  supremacy  of  its  teachings.  In  the  six- 
teenth it  was  the  Reformation  under  Luther 
which  rescued  central  Europe  from  the  dom- 
ination of  a  corrupt  hierarchy,  and  made  ef- 
fective in  England  the  work  wrought  two 
centuries  before  by  Wyclif.  In  the  eighteenth 
it  was  the  great  Wesleyan  revival,  which  con- 
tinues among  the  Churches  unto  this  day. 
What  is  that  great  movement  for  which  the 
Church    of   Christ  is  being  prepared  in  the 


281 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR   THE   MASTER 

twentieth  century?  What  means  the  enroll- 
ment, equipment,  and  provisioning  of  this  great 
army  of  believers?  What  can  that  great 
work  be  which  is  to  enlist  all  the  energies  of 
Christendom  for  its  accomplishment,  making 
the  Church  purer  by  this  mighty  claim  upon 
her  faith  and  draft  upon  her  resources?  For 
what  purpose  have  the  walls  of  heathen  nations 
been  thrown  down  and  the  veriest  secrets  of 
her  territories  been  revealed?  Why  is  the 
Dark  Continent  thrown  open  to  the  gaze  of 
believers,  and  her  degraded  and  still  cannibal 
populations  passed  before  our  eyes?  Why 
this  mighty  unrest  in  China  which  has  led  to 
the  emperor's  proclaiming  the  rights  of  mis- 
sionaries on  her  shores?  O  Church  of  the 
living  Christ,  this  is  your  crowning  and,  if 
faithful,  your  speedy  work — the  conversion  of 
the  world  !  And  from  this  work  will  come  so 
gracious  an  influence  upon  a  religious  life  of 
the  Church  as  to  fit  her  indeed  to  become  the 
Lamb's  wife. 

It   is  the  love  of  Christ,  and  of  humanity 
for  his  sake,  which  will  energize  her  tireless 

activities  to  save  cannibals  and    dwarfs,  and 

282 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

cause  to  be  heard  hymns  of  praise  where  once 
the  shrieks  of  the  victims  of  cannibal  feasts 
filled  the  air.  Not  until  the  Church  is  unable 
to  meet  the  needs,  by  her  messages  and  min- 
istry, of  sinful  and  sorrowing  humanity;  not 
until  she  is  unable  longer  to  yield  sons  and 
daughters  who  are  capable  of  being  stirred  to 
self-sacrifice  and  heroism ;  not  until  she  for- 
gets her  dying,  risen,  ascended,  and  living 
Lord  who  is  Head  over  all  things  to  the 
Church,  can  she  cease  to  have  a  mission  in 
the  world.  But  in  the  very  endeavor  to  make 
the  most  out  of  our  humanity,  to  secure  the 
perfection  of  human  powers  and  the  ripening 
of  all  graces  of  character  possible  to  man, 
declaring  herself  the  servant  of  the  race  for 
Jesus'  sake,  because,  like  her  Master,  she 
has  come  into  the  world  not  to  be  ministered 
unto  but  to  minister,  the  Church  is  uncon- 
sciously preparing  for  the  day  when  a  voice 
out  of  the  eternal  throne  shall  be  heard,  say- 
ing: *<  Praise  our  God,  all  ye  his  servants, 
both  small  and  great.  And  I  heard  as  if 
were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as 

the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of 

2S3 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

mighty  thunderings,  saying,  Alleluia:   for  the 

Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth.     Let  us  be 

glad  and  rejoice,  and  give  honor  to  him:   for 

the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his 

wife  hath  made  herself  ready." 
284 


ISAIAH  AS  A  CITY  PREACHER. 


The  word  unto  the  prophet  spoken 
Was  writ  on  tables  yet  unbroken ; 

Still  floats  upon  the  morning  wind, 
Still  whispers  to  the  willing  mind. 
One  accent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
The  heedless  world  hath  never  lost. 

— Emerson, 


XX 

ISAIAH  AS  A  CITY  PREACHER. 

Isaiah  stands  at  the  head  of  the  long  line 
of  city  preachers  whose  life  work  has  been 
given  in  some  metropolis,  and  whose  re- 
sources of  brain  and  heart  and  will  have  been 
taxed  to  the  utmost  in  the  discharge  of  their 
delicate  but  grave  responsibilities.  Great 
names  are  in  that  list,  names  like  those  of 
John  Chrysostom  in  Constantinople,  Bourda- 
loue  and  Massillon  in  Paris,  Spurgeon  and 
Liddon  in  London;  some  of  them,  like 
Isaiah,  court  preachers  w^ho  needed  to  stand 
in  the  presence  of  kings  and  declare,  *'  God 
alone  is  great."  None  in  point  of  difficulty 
of  mission  or  of  notable  genius  for  their 
work  can  be  compared  with  Isaiah,  '*  the 
Salvation  of  the  Lord,"  whose  ministry  of 
sixty  years  was  wholly  given  to  Jerusalem, 
the  capital  city  of  the  nation  as  well  as  its  re- 
ligious center.  During  his  long  life  of  fully 
ninety  years,  he  was  not  only  the  biographer 
of   two   of   the    greatest    kings,   Uzziah    and 

Hezekiah,  but  he  was  the  contemporary  and 

287 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

preacher  of  at  least  four  kings,  Uzziah,  Jo- 
tham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah,  and  most  prob- 
ably of  Manasseh,  under  whom  it  is  be- 
lieved that  he  suffered  martyrdom  by  being 
sawn  asunder.  Even  though  on  account  of 
his  extreme  age  he  may  not  have  been  per- 
mitted to  be  heard  much  during  the  reign  of 
Manasseh,  yet  as  the  greatest  of  the  proph- 
ets, one  whose  own  sons  were  prophets, 
serving  **  as  signs  and  wonders  in  Israel 
from  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  whose  wife  also  is 
called  a  prophetess,  and  whose  utterances  so 
impressed  some  of  the  remnant  that  many 
prophets  arose  glad  to  be  called  his  sons, 
and  possibly  even  to  give  his  name  to  their 
deliverances,  so  fully  did  they  recognize  his 
teachings  as  the  inspiration  of  their  own, 
Isaiah  naturally  fell  under  the  wicked  king's 
wrath  which  sought  to  hush  forever  the 
voice  of  the  prophets. 

One  visiting  the  great  art  galleries  of  Flor- 
ence and  Rome  often  sees  choice  paintings 
bearing  the  name  ''school  of  Raphael,"  or 
**  school  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,"  which  tell 

that  these  great  masters  not  only  helped  each 
288 


ISAIAH   AS   A   CITY   PREACHER 

Other,  but  that  it  is  not  always  possible  to  tell 
which  is  the  work  of  the  master  and  which 
that  of  his  disciples,  so  that  the  best  possible 
classification  is  to  call  a  group  of  paintings 
having  much  in  common  a  ^'school,"  due  to 
some  great  master  whose  kindly  brush  might 
even  have  now  and  then  touched  the  canvas 
of  some  disciple.  The  genius  of  Isaiah  is  so 
universal,  showing  such  wonderful  variety 
of  style,  such  lofty  flights  of  eloquence,  such 
transcendent  strains  of  music,  such  brillian- 
cy, that  we  are  not  to  be  surprised  if  many 
think  that  to  be  a  double  star  which  has  long 
borne  a  single  name.  The  most  powerful 
telescopes,  which  have  already  discovered 
thousands  of  double  stars,  have  sometimes 
discovered  a  group  of  four  or  five  stars  which 
are  so  related  to  each  other  that  at  first  their 
light  seems  to  come  from  a  single  center. 
Isaiah  may  be  even  a  multiple  star,  a  burning 
and  a  shining  light  so  that  many  were  will- 
ing to  rejoice  in  that  light  and  be  known  sim- 
ply as  disciples  of  Isaiah,  even  long  after  the 
greatest  of  the  prophets  had  sealed  his  tes- 
timony with  his  blood.  The  composite  char- 
19  2S9 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

acter  or  authorship  of  the  Psahns  is  now  well 
recognized,  although  they  long  bore  the  name 
of  David  alone.  In  the  Augustan  age  of 
prophecy,  in  which  Isaiah's  was  the  great 
voice  ringing  out  the  solos  which  have  made 
his  name  immortal,  we  frequently  hear  the 
chorus  composed  of  many. voices,  but  whose 
refrain  is  ever  some  strain  of  their  leader's 
divine  song.  In  trying  to  distinguish  the 
voices  we  may  be  in  danger  of  losing  the 
heavenly  music  itself,  which  **  by  divers  por- 
tions and  in  divers  manners  God  hath  spoken 
unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets."  Genius  is 
creative,  and  its  voice  goes  out  unto  the  end 
of  the  earth.  Moreover,  it  is  generous.  It 
is  a  tribute  to  both  Shakespeare  and  Bacon 
when  the  question  is  raised  by  men  of  lesser 
genius,  could  either  alone  have  written  the 
great  works  which  bear  his  name,  when  all 
later  works  of  genius  fall  so  far  below  what 
has  been  so  long  attributed  to  each.  Despite 
the  shafts  which  have  been  sunk  in  the  rich 
mines  of  these  great  authors,  and  the  vast 
tonnage  which  three  centuries  have  borne 
from  them,  they  will  invite  the  profound  in- 

3Q0 


ISAIAH   AS  A   CITY  PREACHER 

vestigation  of  centuries  to  come.  Greater 
far  than  the  mere  charm  of  genius  is  the 
power  which  attaches  to  his  w^ords  who 
spoke  as  *'  the  Salvation  of  the  Lord."  How 
many  a  torch  has  been  kindled  by  those  lips 
which  were  touched  with  a  live  coal  from  off 
the  altar  of  the  Lord !  Talking  with  Low- 
ell, perhaps  our  most  gifted  American  poet, 
Tennyson,  the  greatest  artist  since  Shakes- 
peare, said:  *'  I  consider  Isaiah  a  very  great 
artist — everything  that  he  says  is  perfect  and 
complete." 

Isaiah  was  a  kingly  man  in  character  and 
service,  as  well  as  in  genius.  Whether  or 
not  he  was  actually  of  royal  descent,  as  has 
been  claimed  for  him,  Isaiah  w^as  confessed- 
ly a  noble,  and  '*the  greatest  political  power 
in  Israel  since  David."  Greater  even  than 
the  great  kings  whom  he  served,  whether 
Uzziah  or  Hezekiah,  Isaiah  wdll  be  best  un- 
derstood as  the  spokesman  of  the  King  of 
kings,  and  not  as  a  courtier  or  counselor  in 
an  earthly  court.  He  w^as  capable  of  both 
receiving  and  giving  a  great  inspiration. 
The  real  greatness  and  kingly  glory  of  Uz- 
291 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

ziah  had  inspired  him,  making  him  almost  a 
hero  worshiper,  in  common  with  his  people, 
of  that  able  monarch  who  had  extended 
the  glory  of  his  kingdom  as  had  not  been 
done  since  the  days  of  Solomon,  until  once 
again  his  ships  raised  his  flag  in  harbors  cap- 
tured from  the  Edomites  who  had  for  centu- 
ries cut  off  the  Israelites  from  the  Gulf  of 
Akaba.  It  meant  much  to  a  man  of  Isaiah's 
susceptibility  to  have  known  so  great  a  lead- 
er of  men  whose  devoutness  of  spirit  was 
never  more  manifest  than  when  he  hasted  to 
go  out  of  the  temple  where  he  had  been 
smitten  with  leprosy,  thus  acknowledging  in 
deep  penitence  his  one  great  sin  and  its  swift 
and  just  punishment.  But  the  year  that 
King  Uzziah  died  there  was  given  the  vision 
of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  whose  name  is  hence- 
forth to  be  spoken  with  such  frequency  and 
deepest  reverence  by  the  lips  that  were 
touched  with  holy  fire.  Is  it  any  marvel  that 
Isaiah's  style  should  be  so  faultless,  when 
every  faculty  which  can  minister  to  clearness 
of  thought  and  purity  of  language  had  been 

so  fully  consecrated  ?     Through  speech  man's 
392 


ISAIAH  AS  A  CITY  PREACHER 

reason  finds  expression.  All  his  imperial 
imagination  and  the  strength  of  his  reflective 
powers  must  find  blossom  and  fruit  in  his 
words.  The  incense  of  his  heart  is  waved 
from  the  censer  of  his  lips.  Men  did  not 
need  to  be  told  that  Isaiah  had  seen  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  and  had  been  searched  through 
and  through  by  *'the  eyes  of  his  glory,'* 
when  his  words  were  from  that  epochal 
vision  reverent  with  holy  memories  of  the 
worship  of  the  seraphim.  We  cannot  con- 
ceive of  so  noble  a  manhood  and  such  con- 
secrated genius  stooping  to  the  use  of  the 
vulgar  dialect  of  slang.  Even  his  most  with- 
ering denunciations  of  sin  are  chaste  with 
the  pure  flame  of  righteous  indignation  be- 
coming an  archangel  himself.  As  the  two- 
edged  sword  which  proceeded  out  of  the 
mouth  of  Him  whom  John  saw  on  Patmos  was 
sharp  with  pure  speech,  so  always  are  the 
chosen  words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  uses, 
piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the 
joints  and  marrow,  and  proving  a  discerner 
of  the  very  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart. 
Moses,  David,  Isaiah,  Paul,  who  can  doubt 
293 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR  THE   MASTER 

that  these  men  had  indeed  seen  God  high 
and  lifted  up?  Their  hps  were  pure  with  a 
coal  from  the  altar.  Michael  had  no  railing 
words  even  for  Satan,  and  thus  showed  him- 
self accustomed  to  the  language  of  the  court 
of  heaven.  Let  every  minister  who  presumes 
to  represent  that  court  see  to  it  that  his  lan- 
guage does  not  betray  him.  Of  whatever 
kingdom  Billingsgate  may  be  the  language, 
it  is  not  of  the  court  whose  speech  Isaiah 
had  heard  when  he  saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon 
a  throne  high  and  lifted  up.  The  minister 
whose  lips  are  not  clean  has  not  yet  received 
his  commission,  or  has  lost  it!  If  he  sets  the 
example,  he  must  not  wonder  that  he  dwells 
"among  a  people  of  unclean  lips."  It  has 
been  the  history  of  many  a  language  that  its 
purity  was  due  more  than  all  else  to  the  vigor 
and  elegance  of  speech  of  its  great  preach- 
ers, whether  Luther  or  Wyclif,  whether  Bar- 
row or  Jeremy  Taylor.  Woe  betide  the  day 
when  the  sensational  and  vulgar  style  of  the 
pulpit  shall  repel  self-respecting  people  from 
the  house  of  God !  It  is  the  badge  of  infe- 
riority in  any  pulpit,  and  a  confession  of  the 
294 


ISAIAH  AS  A  CITY  PREACHER 

meagerness  of  the  preacher's  resources.    Be- 
sides,   it    discounts    the    intelligence    of    his 
hearers  as  if  they  were  capable  only  of  list- 
ening to  negro  minstrelsy  and  not  to  a  sym- 
phony or  an  oratorio.     No  less  of  Isaiah  than 
of  his  Lord  could  it  be  said,  **He  shall  not 
cry,  nor  lift  up,   nor  cause  his  voice  to  be 
heard  in  the  street."     The    shrill   cry  of   a 
dervish,  more   like  the  cry  of  a   wild  beast 
than  the  human  voice,  may  be  employed  to 
attract  attention  by  one  content  with  the  gap- 
ing crowd  which  a  dervish  is  accustomed  to 
draw,  but  the  true  preacher,  like  his  Lord, 
seeks   to   sow   his    seed   in    the   intelligence 
where  it  may  have  depth  of  earth  and  yield  a 
harvest  of  thirty,  sixty,  and  a  hundred  fold. 
Isaiah's  words,  the   delight  and  wonder   of 
the  thoughtful  mind  from  John  the  Baptist, 
who  ceaselessly  quoted  him,  to  Ambrose  and 
Augustine,  to   Handel  and  Tennyson,  could 
never  have  come  from  a  sensational  preach- 
er.    Isaiah  was  the  prophet  of  God,  not  the 
smirking,  snickering  caterer  to  a  mob  with 
itching  ears.     His  words,  so  fitly  spoken  as 
to  be  like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver, 
295 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

inspired  the  translators  of  our  Bible  to  give 
them  a  fitting  dress,  and  have  done  much  to 
make  that  translation  *'a  well  of  English  un- 
defiled."  Elegance  of  style  means  simply 
well-chosen  words  for  the  most  lucid  and 
forcible  expression,  and  who  should  cultivate 
it  more  conscientiously  than  the  spokesman 
of  God  ?  The  Holy  Ghost  never  condescends 
to  sfeak  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  slums.  Let 
none  dare  impute  ignorance  of  correct  lan- 
guage to  the  greatest  Intelligence  in  the  uni- 
verse I 

Isaiah  needed  his  rare  gift  of  choice  and 
forcible  speech  in  his  ministry  at  the  capital 
of  the  nation.  Great  material  prosperity, 
commerce  from  distant  seas,  a  nation  proud 
of  the  success  which  had  attended  its  arms 
whether  in  the  land  of  the  Edomites  or  in 
Philistia,  such  obstacles  to  success  to  one 
speaking  of  spiritual  things  as  come  from 
the  controlhng  influence  of  things  visible,  are 
ready  to  defy  the  prophet  of  God.  Ahaz 
had  so  far  surrendered  to  them  as  that  he 
must  be  reached  by  a  sudden  apparition  of 

the  prophet  just  when  he  is  surveying  the 
296 


ISAIAH   AS   A   CITY   PREACHER 

defenses  of  the  royal  city  and  is  making 
ready  for  an  unholy  alliance  with  the  king  of 
Assyria.  The  high  priest  had  so  far  yielded 
to  Ahaz  as  that  the  honored  altar  where  David 
and  Solomon  had  offered  sacrifices  was  set 
aside  for  a  great  altar  which  Ahaz  had  seen 
in  the  heathen  city  of  Damascus,  whence 
came  also  the  worship  of  the  stars  and  many 
corrupt  practices  which  had  told  upon  the 
morals  of  Jerusalem.  Necromancy,  witch- 
craft, the  causing  of  one's  children  to  pass 
through  the  fire  unto  Molech,  led  to  dissolute 
lives  and  transformed  the  city  of  God  into  al- 
most a  heathen  city  with  its  loathsome  orgies. 
*'The  people's  eyes,"  as  the  prophets  were 
called,  seemed  closed  to  the  perilous  effects 
of  strong  drink  and  licentious  practices.  Love 
of  wealth  which  found  satisfaction  in  ''join- 
ing house  to  house,"  and  love  of  pleasure  de- 
lighting in  revelry  and  excess  of  all  kinds, 
were  the  master  passions  of  the  people. 
''Worship  and  wickedness"  were  synony- 
mous until  Jehovah  cried  out:  ''I  cannot 
bear  it!  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations;  in- 
cense is  an  abomination  unto  me.  Your 
297 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

new  moons  and  your  appointed  feasts  my 
soul  hateth."  The  corrupt  life  of  the  court 
affects  the  capital  and  the  entire  nation.  *'As 
for  my  people,  children  are  their  oppressors 
and  women  rule  over  them."  Nor  is  the 
crown  blameless.  "  O  my  people,  they 
which  rule  over  thee  cause  thee  to  err  and 
destroy  the  way  of  thy  paths."  Moral  dis- 
tinctions were  being  blotted  cut,  as  is  always 
the  case  with  a  people  given  over  to  a  life  of 
sensuality. 

Worst  of  all,  the  very  women  of  the  land 
were  no  longer  on  guard,  like  vestal  virgins, 
tending  the  sacred  fires  of  the  public  and 
private  hearth.  The  royal  harem  had  set 
the  example  which  the  women  of  the  capital 
were  only  too  eager  to  follow.  Their  im- 
modest attire  and  their  utter  worldliness  were 
in  keeping  with  the  drinking  habits  of  the 
day  which  taxed  the  capacity  of  Sheol  it- 
self (Isaiah  v.  14)  because  of  the  count- 
less victims  of  drunkenness.  Verily,  **  if 
the  women  are  corrupt,  the  State  is  mori- 
bund."    The    people    became    skeptical    or 

indifferent   about   the  consequences  of  their 

298 


ISAIAH  AS   A  CITY  PREACHER 

wrongdoing  when  the  very  wives  and  moth- 
ers but  helped  to  corrupt  the  home  and  to 
destroy  the  foundations  of  society.  Their 
defiance  of  God  showed  itself  as  drawing 
their  punishment  toward  them,  "as  it  were 
with  a  cart  rope  "  ;  they  say,  *'  Let  him  make 
speed,  let  him  hasten  his  work  that  we  may 
see  it."  They  even  called  evil  good  and 
good  evil,  and  put  darkness  for  light  and 
light  for  darkness,  a  state  of  society  impos- 
sible without  woman's  consent  and  silence  as 
the  teacher  of  pure  morals  in  the  home  and 
to  her  children. 

Withal  there  is  a  fixed  purpose  to  form  an 
alliance  with  the  Assyrian  king  which  will 
fasten  these  dark  colors  in  the  national  life 
and  morals.  A  superstitious  king  will  not 
even  demand  a  sign  from  heaven,  which 
Isaiah,  "growing  very  bold,"  offers  him,  to 
prove  whether  the  warnings  are  true  which 
the  prophet  utters  respecting  the  baneful 
results  of  such  an  alliance.  The  thought- 
less people  see  the  Assyrian  army  gathered 
about  the  holy  city,  little  recking  that  having 

learned    the    way    as    allies    they   will    soon 
299 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

come  as  foes;  and  so  gather  on  the  house- 
tops to  welcome  them.  No  wonder  the 
prophet  cries:  "What  aileth  thee  now,  that 
thou  art  wholly  gone  up  to  the  housetops,  O 
thou  that  art  full  of  shoutings,  a  tumultuous 
city,  a  joyous  town?  thy  slain  are  not  slain 
with  the  sword,  neither  are  they  dead  in 
battle.  All  thy  rulers  are  fled  away  together, 
they  were  bound  by  the  archers:  all  that 
were  found  of  thee  were  bound  together, 
they  fled  afar  off.  Therefore  said  I,  Look 
away  from  me,  I  will  weep  bitterly;  labor 
not  to  comfort  me,  for  the  spoiling  of  the 
daughter  of  my  people."  When  later  the  ill 
effects  of  this  alliance  are  felt  and  the  de- 
spairing people  would  form  an  alliance  with 
Egypt  against  the  Assyrians,  Isaiah's  voice 
is  lifted  bidding  the  people  trust  in  the  in- 
visible Jehovah  and  not  in  deceitful  Egypt. 
When,  later  yet,  even  pious  Hezekiah  yields 
to  the  vanity  of  display,  only  to  tempt  the 
covetous  eyes  of  the  Babylonian  ambassa- 
dors as  they  behold  the  royal  jewels  and  all 
the    silver    and    gold    of    the    palace,    Isaiah 

faithfully    declares    to    his  beloved  monarch 
300 


ISAIAH  AS   A  CITY  PREACHER 

and  friend:  *'  Behold  the  days  that  all  that  is 
in  thine  house,  and  that  which  thy  fathers 
have  laid  up  in  store  until  this  day,  shall  be 
carried  to  Babylon:  nothing  shall  be  left, 
saith  the  Lord."  Thus  amid  a  people  given 
to  *' temple-treading,"  a  nation  of  formalists, 
then  becoming  corrupt  and  defiant  until  the 
priest  and  the  prophet  "were  overcome 
through  strong  drink,"  and  '*the  daughters 
of  Zion  became  haughty  and  walked  with 
stretched  -  forth  necks  and  wanton  eyes, 
walking  and  mincing  as  the}^  went,  making 
a  tinkling  with  their  feet,"  as  if  to  attract  at- 
tention to  their  scant  modesty;  none  making 
response  to  his  faithful  messages  from  the 
Lord  of  hosts;  Isaiah  still  takes  heed  unto 
his  ministry  that  he  fulfill  it. 

Was  ever  a  minister  more  obedient  to  the 
apostolic  injunction,  ''Take  heed  unto  thy- 
self, and  to  the  flock  over  the  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  thee  overseer"  ?  But  what 
hope  could  he  have  of  success,  and  how  could 
he  be  sustained  in  so  long  and  so  apparent- 
ly fruitless  a  ministry?     Did    ever   a   pastor 

have  so  perverse  a  flock?     "For  it  is  a  rebel- 
301 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

lious  people,  lying  children,  children  that  will 
not  hear  the  law  of  the  Lord :  which  say  to  the 
seers,  See  not;  and  to  the  prophets.  Proph- 
esy not  unto  us  right  things,  speak  unto  us 
smooth  things,  prophesy  deceits;  get  you  out 
of  the  way,  turn  aside  out  of  the  path,  cause 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel  to  cease  from  before 
us."  The  presence  of  the  prophet  became 
hateful  as  Isaiah  stood  in  the  path  before 
them  and  tried  to  keep  his  flock  from  plung- 
ing headlong  down  into  the  very  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death.  The  people  bade  him 
get  out  of  their  way  and  to  take  his  God 
with  him.  Yet  he  never  faltered,  but  pro- 
claimed, '*A  man  shall  be  as  a  hiding  place 
from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the  tem- 
pest; as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  as 
the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land." 
The  tide  of  evil  must  turn  even  though  one 
should  need  to  give  his  life  to  stay  its  prog- 
ress. '*For  the  palace  shall  be  forsaken  and 
the  populous  city  shall  be  deserted,  until  the 
Spirit  be  poured  out  upon  us  from  on  high, 
and  the  wilderness  become   a  fruitful  field. 

Then  judgment  shall  dwell  in  the  wilderness 
302 


ISAIAH   AS   A  CITY    PREACHER 

and  righteousness  in  the  fruitful  field.  And 
the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace, 
and  the  effect  of  righteousness  quietness  and 
confidence  forever." 

As  Isaiah's  ministry  began,  when  King 
Uzziah  died,  with  the  vision  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  so  the  remembrance  of  that  vision  with 
a  clear  apprehension  of  divine  character,  the 
holiness  which  the  awed  seraphim  with  cov- 
ered face  and  feet  ceaselessly  proclaimed, 
and  which  inspired  them  to  eager  service 
even  while  they  sang,  was  never  wanting  in 
the  life  of  the  great  prophet  of  God.  In 
fact,  with  all  his  natural  gifts,  it  was  this  that 
made  him  the  mighty  statesman  who  never 
wholly  despaired  of  his  people,  and  the  se- 
raphic singer  who,  for  thousands  of  years, 
has  "given  songs  in  the  night."  Is  there 
something  in  the  sun's  rays  on  which  the 
eagle  delights  to  look  which  makes  clear  his 
vision  so  that  from  his  lofty  circle  in  the  air 
he  can  distinguish  the  minutest  object  of 
search  on  the  earth  below?  Something  like 
this  was  Isaiah's  experience  after  that  won- 
derful vision  of  the  throne  of  God  and  when 
303 


SKILLED    LABOR    FOR    THE    MASTER 

he  learned  that  '*the  fullness  of  the  whole 
earth  is  his  glory."  He  had  seen  so  much 
of  God  that  from  that  time  forth  he  could  see 
God  everywhere.  To  see  all  things  in  God, 
all  wisdom,  all  power,  all  love,  was  to  see 
God  in  all  things.  The  light  of  that  face 
was  seen  illumining  every  dark  question  un- 
til ''the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall 
be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains, 
and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills ;  and  all 
nations  shall  flow  unto  it."  It  gave  Isaiah 
no  concern  that  they  needed  to  flow  uphill  if 
they  reached  it.  All  things  were  possible 
where  the  fullness  of  the  earth  was  God's 
glory.  All  kings  might  prove  recreant  to 
their  trust  and  the  people  might  be  like  their 
priests  in  dissolute  living,  the  very  nation 
might  be  deported  into  a  distant  land,  yet  out 
of  the  stump  should  come  up  the  root  or 
sprout  from  which  a  new  tree  should  grow. 
A  remnant  should  be  saved.  Isaiah  believed, 
and  so  spoke. 

The  once  hero  worshiper  no  longer  looked 
to  an  earthly  king.     God  alone  could  proper- 
ly rule  his  people  Israel  and  enable  them  to 
304 


ISAIAH   AS    A   CITY   PREACHER 

realize  all  their  hopes.  In  the  coming  of 
Him  whose  name  was  to  be  called  Wonder- 
ful, Counselor,  the  Hero-God,  Everlasting 
Father,  Prince  of  Peace,  Isaiah  saw  attri- 
butes which  he  had  sought  in  vain  in  any 
Hebrew  monarch.  He  no  longer  looked  for 
the  glory  of  Hezekiah,  but  for  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  of  hosts.  In  proportion  as  the 
State  was  slowly  sinking,  a  bright  hopeful- 
ness and  a  wide  survey  of  the  future  marked 
his  speech.  He  endured  as  seeing  Him  who 
is  invisible.  Like  every  true  preacher  since, 
when  he  had  faith  in  God  he  had  faith  in 
men.  *'A  remnant  shall  return"  even  from 
Babylonish  captivity.  His  faith  (as  must  be 
every  pastor's)  was  in  those  who  had  not 
bowed  the  knee  to  Baal.  With  men  who 
feared  nothing  but  God  and  hated  nothing 
but  sin  he  could  repeople  the  desolate  land. 
Nay,  growing  '*very  bold,"  Isaiah  sees  this 
remnant  grafted  on  the  wild  olive  tree  of  the 
Gentile  nations,  *'for  that  the  Lord  of  hosts 
hath  blessed  them,  saying.  Blessed  be  Egypt 
my  people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of  my 
hands,  and  Israel  mine  inheritance."  (Chap- 
20  305 


SKILLED    LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

ter  xix.  25.)  All  this  is  true  because  "there 
shall  come  forth  a  shoot  out  of  the  stock  of 
Jesse,  and  a  branch  out  of  his  roots  shall 
bear  fruit;  and  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  shall 
rest  upon  him,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  un- 
derstanding, the  spirit  of  counsel  and  might, 
the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  the  fear  of  the 
Lord.  And  righteousness  shall  be  the  girdle 
of  his  loins,  and  faithfulness  the  girdle  of  his 
reins." 

With  Isaiah  the  divine  righteousness  was 
always  the  supreme  attribute.  It  explained 
the  divine  sovereignty  itself.  The  Infinitely 
Holy  must  be  the  Infinitely  Near,  because  he 
could  not  be  indifferent  to  suffering.  He 
would  be  bereft  of  his  glory  if  it  did  not  fill 
all  the  earth.  Even  those  by  the  rivers  of 
far-off  Babylon  must  see  it,  and  they  which 
sat  in  darkness  must  behold  the  great  light. 
To  know  God,  to  apprehend  the  divine  char- 
acter, was  more  important  than  to  attempt  to 
vindicate  the  divine  government.  **  Shall  not 
the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?"  has 
been  the  souFs  sheet  anchor  since  Abra- 
ham believed  God  and  it  was  counted  to  him 
306 


ISAIAH   AS    A    CITY   PREACHER 

for  righteousness.  And  he  beheved  in  God's 
righteousness  side  by  side  with  man's  right- 
eousness which  it  could  inspire,  for  the  di- 
vine righteousness  was  no  barren  attribute 
incapable  of  reproducing  itself.  He  who 
had  so  clear  a  view  of  the  divine  nature 
knew  human  nature  as  no  one  else  know^s  it 
save  he  who  sees  it  as  God  sees  it,  with  **  the 
eyes  of  his  glory."  *'The  whole  head  sick 
and  the  whole  heart  faint,"  and  yet  both  are 
capable  of  divine  healing  and  comfort.  Who 
ever  pointed  out  human  weakness  and  guilt, 
or  the  sure  punishment  of  sin,  as  did  the 
prophet  who  tells  of  Him  who  is  to  bear  our 
sorrows,  to  be  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions, and  by  whose  stripes  alone  we  can  be 
healed  ?  He  who  had  rebuked  '  *  temple-tread- 
ing" which  God  hated  tells  of  God  who  is  a 
Spirit,  and  seeks  such  to  w^orship  him  as  wor- 
ship him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Next  to  the 
Psalms,  no  book  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
more  quoted  in  the  New  than  Isaiah,  for 
none  is  so  full  of  instruction  and  help.  No 
wonder  the  treasurer  of  Queen  Candace  is 
found  reading  it  as  he  rides  homeward  in  his 
307 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

chariot,  and  is  soon  prepared  to  believe  on 
the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.  Thus  truth  is  eternal  as  is  God 
its  source;  it  is  man  whose  varying  circum- 
stances show  his  weakness  until  they  bring 
him  back  to  what  is  abiding  and  what  alone 
can  satisfy  him.  The  very  patriotism  of 
Isaiah,  which,  as  with  every  devout  Jew,  was 
identified  with  religious  privilege  and  respon- 
sibility, was  simply  the  application  of  the  eter- 
nal truth  of  God  to  the  specific  needs  and 
sins  and  sorrows  of  his  time. 

In  Isaiah  we  find  primarily  a  true  man 
who  believed  the  God  of  truth,  and  in  whose 
voice  is  never  a  tremor  of  doubt  or  of  fear  as 
he  proclaims  the  divine  message  to  his  own 
generation.  In  so  doing,  he  speaks  to  all  fu- 
ture generations,  *'  for  whatsoever  things  were 
written  aforetime  were  written  for  our  learn- 
ing, that  we  through  patience  and  comfort  of 
the  Scriptures  might  have  hope."  If  truth 
clothed  itself  in  royal  splendor  in  Isaiah's 
mind,  it  was  because  he  was  prepared  to  re- 
ceive it.     He  was  never  able  to  give  out  to 

others  what  had  not  been  transmuted  in  his 
308 


ISAIAH   AS   A  CITY  PREACHER 

own  mind  and  heart.  Prophecy  was  not 
meaningless  vision,  although  to  a  lower  order 
of  men  called  prophets  in  Moses's  time  the 
Lord  spoke  in  a  vision,  but  to  that  great 
lawgiver  as  v/ell  as  prophet  the  Lord  said: 
**  With  him  I  will  speak  mouth  to  mouth,  even 
manifestly  and  not  in  dark  speeches,  and  the 
form  of  the  Lord  shall  he  behold."  Isaiah's 
very  boldness  was  due  to  his  clear  apprehen- 
sion of  the  truth  which  he  proclaimed.  He 
was  not  a  mere  echo;  the  truth  had  so  be- 
come a  part  of  himself  that  he  was  a  voice. 
What  he  saw  was  not  as  if  in  a  dream,  but 
with  his  powers  all  awake  and  alive.  The 
very  tongue  of  flame  on  his  lips  and  brow 
told  of  a  heart  of  fire  within. 

Sure,  He  that  made  us  with  such  large  discourse, 
Looking  before  and  after,  gave  us  not 
That  capabilitj  and  godlike  reason, 
To  rust  in  us  unused. 

Paul  with  all  his  miraculous  gifts  of  tongues 
said:  '*!  thank  God  that  I  speak  in  tongues 
more  than  you  all;  howbeit  in  the  church  I 
had  rather  speak  five  words  with  my  under- 
standing, that  I  might  instruct  others  also, 
309 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE   MASTER 

than  ten  thousand  words  in  a  tongue."  De- 
spite Isaiah's  brilliant  powers,  which  might 
have  created  the  most  marvelous  pyrotech- 
nics of  speech,  the  utmost  simplicity  and 
clearness  are  his  most  noteworthy  character- 
istics as  a  teacher  sent  from  God. 

Isaiah's  power  of  vision,  due  to  all  his  fac- 
ulties being  devoted  wholly  to  the  service  of 
God,  is  notable  equally  for  its  length  and 
breadth.  The  eye  which  could  see  the  Son  of 
God  in  travail,  as  he  is  led  like  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,  beheld  him  also  dividing  a  portion 
with  the  great  and  the  spoil  with  the  strong, 
as  all  nations  came  to  his  light  and  kings  to 
the  brightness  of  his  rising.  He  will  ever  be 
a  prophet  to  the  Gentiles  who  can  look  far 
enough  afield  to  see  the  brotherhood  of  man 
as  the  lengthened  and  broad  shadow  cast  by 
the  Fatherhood  of  God.  No  more  does  all 
the  world  love  a  lover  than  all  the  world 
hates  a  scorner.  Shakespeare  will  never  lack 
readers  when  men  recognize  in  what  is  called 
"the  universality  of  his  genius"  the  univer- 
sality  of    his    sympathy    with    mankind,    all 

whose  varied  types  he  took  enough  interest 
310 


ISAIAH   AS   A   CITY   PREACHER 

in  to  paint,  and  held  up  none  to  scorn.  The 
world's  great  prophets  are  as  broad  in  sym- 
pathy as  they  are  mighty  in  thought.  Isaiah's 
burden  for  Assyria,  for  Moab,  for  Tyre,  for 
Damascus,  for  Arabia,  for  Egypt,  was  as 
pathetic  as  for  Ariel  **the  hearth  of  God" 
where  he  spent  his  ministry  of  threescore 
years.  The  same  heart  that  was  burdened 
for  their  sins  rejoiced  in  the  redemption  of 
the  Gentiles  as  twenty-six  centuries  ago  he 
saw,  what  none  save  devout  believers  have 
been  able  to  see  in  these  days  of  our  boast- 
ed human  brotherhood,  **that  the  Lord  hath 
blessed  them,  saying.  Blessed  be  Egypt  my 
people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of  my  hands, 
and  Israel  mine  inheritance."  *'The  gos- 
pel according  to  Isaiah"  finds  a  fit  place  in 
its  resetting  in  the  New  Testament  as  John 
the  Baptist  uses  his  language  to  call  the  peo- 
ple to  repentance,  our  Lord  to  say,  *'This 
day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears," 
and  Philip  and  Peter  in  the  words  of  the  evan- 
gelical prophet  point  the  Ethiopian  treasurer 
and  the  Roman  centurion  to  Christ.  That 
voice  would    never   have   gone   out   into   all 


SKILLED   LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

the  world  had  not  the  heart  of  the  prophet 
gone  before  his  words.  The  ministry  that 
can  reach  a  great  city  and  be  heard  alike  in 
palace  and  hovel,  by  prince  and  peasant,  can 
reach  universal  humanity.  The  ministry  that 
seeks  only  to  reach  a  class  fails  even  to  do 
that.  The  embattled  farmers  at  Concord 
who  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world 
fought  for  humanity,  and  not  simply  for  their 
hearthstones.  Chrysostom  and  Chalmers  are 
** golden-mouthed"  to-day  because  their  min- 
istry stirred  all  Constantinople  and  Edin- 
burgh as  they  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  poor 
before  the  rich  and  the  rights  of  the  rich 
before  the  poor.  No  wonder  the  people  of 
Constantinople  said,  *' It  were  better  for  the 
sun  to  cease  to  shine  than  for  John  Chrysos- 
tom to  cease  to  preach." 

Isaiah  was  a  true  *' metropolitan."  His 
influence  owed  something  to  the  trappings  of 
place,  for  he  was  the  intimate  and  biogra- 
pher of  kings.  But  never  like  Cardinal  Wol- 
sey  did  he  turn  away  with  a  broken  heart  la- 
menting that  he  had  not  served  his  God  with 
half  the  zeal  with  which  he  had  served  his 


ISAIAH  AS  A  CITY  PREACHER 

king.  Throne  indeed  he  had,  but  it  was  the 
pulpit.  A  scepter  was  his,  the  voice  of  truth 
and  soberness,  saying,  **Now  therefore  be 
wise,  O  ye  kings;  be  instructed,  ye  judges 
of  the  earth."  His  breastplate  was  the 
priestly  one  of  righteousness,  that  conscious- 
ness of  integrity  which  is  the  best  safeguard 
of  every  man  amid  great  responsibilities. 
Whether  his  prophet's  mantle  were  of  cam- 
el's hair  like  Elijah's  or  fine  linen  such  as  is 
worn  by  those  who  dwell  in  kings'  palaces, 
he  kept  his  garment  unspotted  from  the 
world.  If  healing  came  from  the  touch  of 
the  border  of  his  garment,  it  was  because  it 
covered  the  heart  of  God's  nobleman.  One 
who  was  a  chosen  vessel  unto  the  Lord  to 
carry  his  name  unto  kings,  like  Paul,  could 
preach  as  eagerly  to  a  jailer  at  Philippi  as  be- 
fore King  Agrippa  in  Cesarea.  It  became 
him  also  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto  his 
brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and 
faithful  high  priest  in  things  pertaining  to 
God.  The  greatest  man  in  Jerusalem  in 
Isaiah's  day  was  thus  the  servant  of  all. 
What  made  Isaiah's  ministry  great  was 
3^3 


SKILLED   LABOR   FOR   THE   MASTER 

that  it  lacked  none  of  the  three  essential 
elements,  namely:  instruction,  rebuke,  com- 
fort. In  this  the  servant  was  like  his  Master, 
the  disciple  was  as  his  Lord.  Isaiah  showed 
himself  mighty  in  the  Scriptures.  He  whose 
words  went  so  far  sent  them  forth  on  the 
beams  of  truth.  The  rays  from  the  sun  it- 
self have  both  light  and  heat  and  go  into 
all  the  earth.  The  ministry  which  has  less 
than  the  greatest  themes  does  not  take  as  a 
model  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  one  theme  is 
to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them 
unto  us.  Because  Christ  was  Isaiah's  theme 
his  was  a  true  gospel,  one  of  sweetness  and 
light,  and  men  have  ever  rejoiced  in  that 
light.  He  fed  the  flock  of  Christ  over  which 
he  was  made  overseer.  The  sheep  love  the 
hand  that  feeds  them.  Isaiah  was  a  pastor, 
a  shepherd  after  God's  own  heart,  whom  he 
had  promised  to  give  unto  his  people.  If 
many  a  devout  soul  were  asked  the  secret 
of  his  devotion  to  his  pastor,  his  simple  re- 
ply would  be,  *'  He  helps  us  so."  Those  to 
whom  Isaiah  ministered  never  came  asking  for 
bread  when  he  gave  them  a  stone.  He  fed 
314 


ISAIAH   AS  A   CITY  PREACHER 

sheep  and  lambs  alike.  He  ministered  to  all 
the  flock.  The  grasp  of  the  greatest  truths 
by  his  imperial  mind  is  equaled  by  his  will- 
ingness to  give  '*line  upon  line,  precept  upon 
precept,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little," 
so  that  none  should  go  hungry  away.  The 
court  preacher  was  a  favorite  with  the  com- 
mon people  who  heard  him  gladly,  as  he 
brought  forth  things  new  and  old  out  of 
the  treasury  of  the  Lord.  **Thus  saith  the 
Lord,"  was  the  message  to  kings  and  people 
from  this  spokesman  of  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
He  seemed  *' resolved  to  preach  nothing  as 
essential  to  salvation  save  what  could  be 
concluded  and  proved  out  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, or  agreeable  to  the  same." 

Denunciatory  language  is  the  easiest  that 
can  come  from  mortal  lips.  It  requires  less 
intellect  than  any  other  kind  of  human 
speech,  and  is  frequently  marked  by  little 
discrimination.  What  opportunities  it  af- 
fords to  vanity,  to  anger,  to  disordered  di- 
gestion !  One  who  seeks  to  show  himself 
approved  of  God,  a  workman  that  needeth 
not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word 
315 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

of  truth,  will  be  careful  that  while  he  does 
not  fail  to  rebuke  hypocrisy,  as  did  our 
Lord,  he  will  speak  the  truth  in  love.  Paul 
made  full  proof  of  his  ministry  as  he  be- 
sought men  to  walk  worthy  of  the  high  voca- 
tion wherewith  they  were  called,  with  all 
lowliness  and  meekness,  with  long-suffering 
forbearing  one  another  in  love.  Such  is  the 
spirit  of  prophet  or  apostle  who  would  imi- 
tate Him  who  does  not  quench  the  smoking 
flax  or  break  the  bruised  reed.  Anger,  ill- 
temper,  knows  how  to  denounce;  only  love 
knows  how  to  rebuke.  Paul,  who  was  will- 
ing to  die  for  his  kindred  according  to  the 
flesh,  like  his  Lord  wept  over  the  holy  city 
doomed  to  destruction.  Isaiah  loved  his 
country  so  ardently  that  he  could  rebuke  its 
idolatry,  its  formalism  in  worship,  its  oppres- 
sion of  the  poor;  but  his  language  is  chaste, 
and  savors  of  a  message  given  of  God.  He 
never  formed  the  habit  of  denunciation  which 
finally  delighted  in  denouncing  everything 
regardless  of  the  importance  of  the  offense. 
There    may   be    heat    engendered    which    is 

greater  than  the  evil  one  seeks   to   rebuke. 
316 


ISAIAH  AS   A   CITY  PREACHER 

Overwrought  passion  in  the  pulpit  is  the  over- 
charged gun  whose  breech  is  more  dangerous 
than  its  muzzle. 

While  the  metropolitan  pulpit  of  Isaiah 
made  him  in  a  large  sense  the  preacher  to 
the  nation  rather  than  to  the  individual,  yet 
the  gospel  of  comfort  in  his  long  ministry- 
tells  the  secret  of  the  sweet  refrain,  ^*  Com- 
fort ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,  saith  your 
God."  The  heart  of  the  great  preacher  had 
been  touched  by  the  sufferings  and  sorrows 
of  his  kind.  The  tale  of  divine  pity  was 
told  by  lips  moved  by  human  pity.  Nay 
more,  Isaiah  had  first  found  comfort  for  his 
own  sorrows  in  the  Messiah  whom  he  con- 
stantly preached  to  sovereign  and  subject. 
After  Uzziah's  death,  the  God  whom  he  had 
seen  high  and  lifted  up  was  to  him  the  God 
of  all  comfort.  He  preached  only  what  he 
knew.  It  was  the  heart  whose  strings  were 
made  tense  through  suffering  that  became  a 
heart  of  consolation.  No  such  drafts  are 
made  on  human  sympathy  as  are  made  upon 
the  man  of  God  whose  voice  is  heard  by  mul- 
titudes in  the  great  city.  He  is  well-nigh  bank- 
317 


SKILLED  LABOR  FOR  THE  MASTER 

rupt  at  times  in  seeking  to  respond  to  ap- 
peals which  overestimate  his  means,  his  wis- 
dom, his  very  capacity  to  suffer.  Like  Isa- 
iah and  the  disciples  of  old,  he  would  fain 
bring  the  distressed  at  once  to  their  Lord, 
who  alone  can  say: 

I,  the  peace  that  passeth  knowledge,   dwell   amid   the 

daily  strife  of  life; 
I,  the  bread  of  heaven,  am  broken  in  the  sacrament  of 

of  life. 

318 


INDEX. 


After  graduation,  what?  3- 

15- 
Agassiz,    Professor    Louis, 

228. 
Aldrich,  T.  B.,  142. 
Alexander,  Dr.  Addison, 

159- 

Ambrose,  295. 

Anger,  when  manifest  in 
the  preacher,  219. 

Anointed,  Jesus  the,  1 1  i-i  14. 

Apostles,  Christ  and  the 
twelve,  226,  227. 

Aristotle,  154. 

Arnold  of  Rugby,  38. 

Assemblies,  masters  of,  35. 

Augustine,  creed  of,  84,  295. 

Augustus,  the  Roman  em- 
peror, 205. 

Bacon,  Lord,  12,  21,  290. 
Barrow,  Dr.  Isaac,  34,  294 
Baxter,  Richard,  195. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  63. 
Bedlam,    selfishness    the 
mother  of,  104. 


Believer,  the  life  of  the,  186, 

187. 
Blackstone,  Sir  William,  6. 
Body,  offering  of  the,  100. 
Books,  of  special  value,  46; 

devotional.  121. 
Bookshelves,  a   preacher's, 

31-46. 
Bourdaloue,  Louis,  287. 
Brainerd,  David.,  success  of, 

201. 
Browning,  Robert,  2,  17,  48, 

78,  no,  126,  192,  252;  Mrs. 

E.  B.,  161. 
Brooks,    Phillips,    55,    139, 

203. 
Burke,  Edmund,  158. 
Business  and  profession,  dif- 
ference between,  23. 
Butler's  Analogy,  5. 

Candidates  for  baptism  and 
membership,  vows  taken 
by,  253,  254. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  97. 

Cary,  Alice,  78. 
19 


INDEX 


Chalmers,  Thomas,  34,  37, 
199,  312, 

Character,  the  propagation 
of,  99;  the  gold  of,  164. 

Chatham,  Lord,  34. 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  204. 

Choate,  Rufus,  23. 

Christ,  skilled  labor  for,  243- 
250. 

Christendom,  the  Church  to 
be  tested  in,  272. 

Christianity,  the  survival  of, 
269. 

Chrysostom,  John,  167,  183, 
287,  312. 

Church,  development  of  a 
working,  250;  the  visibil- 
ity of  the,  271;  the  cre- 
dentials of  the,  272;  won- 
derful movements  of  the, 
281. 

City  preacher,  Isaiah  as  a, 
287-318. 

Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor, 
96,  126. 

Commandments,  sermons 
on  the,  217. 

Commentaries,  43-45. 
Concord,   the    embattled 
farmers  at,  3:12. 


Congregational    Church, 

the,  13. 
Conversion    of    the    world, 

the  problem  of  the,  280. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  154. 
Cuyler,   Dr.   Theodore    L., 

158. 

Dante,  155. 

David,    the    weakness    and 

strength  of,  151,  152,  162, 

163. 
Davies,  Samuel,  204. 
Development,    by     contact 

with     men     and     books, 

54- 
Difficulties,    surmounting, 

57-59- 

Disciples,  Christ's  care  of 
his,  169-173. 

Discipline,  the  faithful  ad- 
ministration of,  209;  the 
end  and  method  of,  214- 
216;  disregarding  direc- 
tions of  the,  260,  261. 

Disraeli,  Benjamin,  147. 

Douglass,  Dr.  George,  140 

Edersheim,  42. 

Edison,  Thomas  Alva,  248. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  37. 


320 


INDEX 


Elijah,  recovery  of  the  abat- 
ed zeal  of,  153, 171  ;aguest 
of  God,  179. 

Eliot,  George,  224. 

Ellicott,  Bishop  Charles  J., 

i4»  42,  43- 
Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  30. 
England,  a  custom  in,  206; 

service  of  the  Church  of, 

256. 
Epworth  League,  and  other 

Church  societies,  236,  237. 
Essayists,  the  great,  40. 
Evangelist,  the  w^ork  of  an, 

137. 
Experience,  an  undergrad- 
uate's, 63-66. 

Fainting  fits,  151-154. 

Farrar,  Canon,  42. 

Felix  of  Nola  and  the  spi- 
der, 175. 

Firing  line  of  the  ministry, 
the,  128. 

Fish,  as  a  symbol  of  Christ, 
172. 

Fletcher,  John  William,  195- 
197.  234. 

Flock,  feeding  the,  211. 

Force,  the  Church  used  as 
a,  225. 


Fort  Monroe,  12. 
Future,  the  Church  of  the, 
260-284. 

Gladstone,  William  Ewart, 

5,86. 
Godet,  120, 
Good  works,  188,  189. 
Graduate,   the   Conference, 

3-1 S- 
Green,  John  Richard,  264. 
Gristle  turned  to  bone,  49- 

59. 
Guest  of  God,  the,  167-180. 
Gulf  stream,  mighty  force 

of  the,  98. 

Hall,  Robert,  6,  34,  157. 
Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  142. 
Handel,    Georg    Friedrich, 

295- 
Harper,  Dr.  W.  R.,  199. 
Henry,  Patrick,  204. 
Herbert,  George,  198. 
History,  works  on  general, 

40. 
Holmes,    Oliver    Wendell, 

192,  244. 
Horsley,  Bishop  Samuel, 

119. 
Hughes,  Hugh  Price,  107. 


21 


331 


INDEX 


Hugo,  Victor,  204. 

H jmnologj,  our  choice,  262. 

Hymns,  the  theology  of  our, 

263;  the  best  of  all  ages 

drawn  upon,  264. 

Indolence,  next  to  insincer- 
ity, 72- 

Instruction,  the  Father's 
voice  of,  198. 

Intercession,  the  ministry 
of,  127-140. 

Interior,  extract  from  the, 
10,  II. 

Isaiah,  the  universal  genius 
of,  289;  a  kingly  man  in 
character  and  service,  291 ; 
faultless  style  of,  292;  the 
prophet  of  God,  295;  faith- 
ful amid  corruptions  and 
defiance,  296-302;  once  a 
hero  worshiper,  looks  a- 
lone  to  the  glory  of  God, 
304-306;  held  the  divine 
righteousness  to  be  the 
supreme  attribute,  306; 
knew  human  nature  as 
God  sees  it,  307 ;  speaks  to 
all  future  generations,  308 ; 
clearly  apprehended  the 
truth,  309;  a  prophet  to 


the  Gentiles,  310;  broad 
in  sympathy  and  mighty 
in  thought,  311;  a  true 
metropolitan,  312 ;  unspot- 
ted from  the  world,  313; 
mighty  in  the  Scriptures, 
314;  a  favorite  with  the 
common  people,  315;  re- 
buked the  sins  of  his 
country,  but  in  chaste  lan- 
guage, 316 ;  preached  only 
what  he  knew,  317. 

John  the  aged,  128. 
John  the  Baptist,  155. 
Journalism,  27. 
Judas  Iscariot,  161,  162. 
Judson,  Adoniram,  37. 
Julian  the  Apostate,  167. 

Keble,  John,  88. 

Keller,  Helen,  203. 

Kingdom  of  God,  skilled  la- 
bor a  need  in  the,  246;  the 
Church  an  expression  of 
the,  270. 

King's  gardens,  paths  of  the, 
176. 

Kingsley,  Charles,  i6i. 

Knowledge,  a  wise  defini" 
tion  of,  81. 


323 


INDEX 


Knox,  John,  the  prayer  of, 
135- 

Langbridge,  150. 
Leighton,  Archbishop,  234. 
Lettef,  a  perplexed  pastor's, 

209-221. 
Letting  the  light  shine,  183- 

190. 
Liddon,  Canon,  102,  287. 
Light,  the  Christian's,  183- 

185. 
Liturgy,  our  Methodist,  253- 

266. 
Livingstone,  David,  37,  106. 
Lollards,  the,  281. 
Longfellow,  Henry    Wads- 
worth,  30. 
Low  ideals,  the  bane  of  the 

preacher,  75. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  224, 

291. 
Lowth,  Bishop,  136. 
Luther,  Martin,  157, 281, 294. 

Mackay,  Alexander,  37. 
Magee,    Bishop    of    Peter- 

boro,  199. 
Man,  the  unmaking  of  the, 

68. 
Martyn,  Henry,  37. 


Marvin,  Bishop  E.  M.,  171. 

Massillon,  Jean  Baptiste, 
287. 

Maudsley,  Henry,  striking 
saying  of,  99. 

Members,  Church,  the  char- 
acter and  duties  of  official, 
229-232. 

Men  chosen  of  God:  Jere- 
miah, Ezekiel,  Paul,  Gid- 
eon, 50-53. 

Mercy,  Jesus  makes  the  sin- 
ful woman  an  example  of, 
212-214. 

Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  address  of  the 
bishops  of  the,  257. 

Milton,  John,  no,  136,  154. 

Ministry,  the  Christian, 
more  than  a  profession, 
27. 

Monk,  answering  the  ques- 
tion of  a,  107. 

Montgomery,  James,  262. 

Morse,  Professor  Samuel  F. 
B.,  248. 

Moses,  obedience  of,  103. 

Mozley,  Canon,  33. 

Nagging,  a  pastor  to  avoid, 
2ia 


323 


INDEX 


Nazianzen,  Gregory,  167. 

Newton,  Sir  John,  248. 

Paine,  Tom,  163. 

Parishes,  country,  198,  204. 

Parker,  Dr.  Joseph,  36. 

Pascal,  Blaise,  154. 

Paton,  John  G.,  37. 

Paul,  to  Timothy,  14;  the 
example  of,  129-131;  last 
message  of,  131 ;  a  chosen 
vessel,  144;  sufferings  of, 
144-146;  a  guest  of  God, 
174,  179. 

Perplexity,  a  pastor's,  209- 
221. 

Persuasion,  the  object  of 
the  sermon,  127,  139. 

Pharisees,  the  righteousness 
of  the,  188,  189. 

Phelps,  Austin,  49,  74. 

Philosophy,  works  on,  40. 

Physician,  the  beloved,  26. 

Poetry,  the  best,  40;  a  capi- 
tal way  of  studying,  41. 

Potter,  Archbishop,  218. 

Prayer,  Paul  a  man  of,  65, 
90;  effect  of,  on  West- 
minster Assembly,  90; 
of  the  high  priest  in  the 
holy  of  holies,  91 ;  of  the 


mother  of  James  and 
John,  103. 

Preacher,  the  unmaking  of 
a>  63-76;  the  anointed, 
111-124;  a  rest  day  for 
the  faithful,  158. 

Presbyterian  Church,  the 
Northern,  13. 

Presbytery,  examination  of 
candidates  in,  10,  11. 

Profession,  definition  of  a, 
20. 

Professional  life,  the  obli- 
gations of,  19-28. 

Professional  service,  mem- 
bers engaged  in,  19,  20. 

Professions,  the  three  origi- 
nal, 24. 

Progress,  skilled  labor  a 
condition  of,  247-249. 

Purpose,  a  man  of,  95,  97. 

Pulpit,  literature  of  the,  42; 
lack  of  seriousness  in  the, 
74;  three  essential  things 
in  the,  82;  weak  men  in 
the,  89;  history  of  the, 
138. 

Reckoning,  dead,  79-92. 
Reformation,  the,  281. 
Renan,  Joseph  Ernest,  26. 


324 


INDEX 


Ritual,  Commentary  on  the, 

255- 

Robertson,  Frederick,  38. 

Roman  Church,  the  excess- 
ive ceremonialism  of  the, 

134- 
Rossetti,  Christina  G.,  17. 
Rutherford,  to    his   people, 

202. 

Sacramental  service,  ob- 
servance of  the  rubrics 
for,  258. 

Saint  Basil  the  Great,  167- 
169. 

Saint  Francis  of  Assisi,  107- 
178. 

Saints,  calendar  of,  36. 

Saving  men,  influence  in,  66. 

Saxe  Holm,  242. 

Schiller,  Friedrich,  8,  71. 

Science,  revolutionizing  dis- 
coveries of,  243-246. 

Self-indulgence,  56. 

Shakespeare,  41,  182,  290, 
310. 

Shepard,  Rev,  Thomas,  9. 

Shepherd  Psalm,  figures  in 
the,  173. 

Sheridan,  General  P.  H., 
249. 


Ships,  the  dead  reckoning 
of,  79,  80. 

Society,  the  Church's  pow- 
er must  pervade  the  whole 
of,  274. 

Soul,  the  growth  of  a,  56. 

Spurgeon,  Charles,  287. 

Staff,  the  pastor's  personal, 

225-239- 
Stanley,  Dean,  193. 
Stuart,  the  tyrannical  house 

of,  175- 
Suffering,  the  sacrament  of, 

143-148. 
Summers,  Dr.  Thomas  O., 

255. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  294. 

Teachers,  incompetent  Sun- 
day-school, 247. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  2,  48,  74, 
182,  291,  295. 

Themes,  mere  sensational, 
123. 

Theology,  four  great  depart- 
ments of,  38. 

Tholuck,  Friedrich,  123. 

Tillett,  Dr.  W.  F.,  266. 

Time,  right  apportioning  of 
the  young  minister's,  199- 
202. 


32s 


INDEX 


Training  class,  a   Christian 

worker's,  237-7.39. 
Treatment,  need  of  careful, 

220. 
Trench,  Archbishop,  62. 
Trust,  mutuality  of,  177. 
Truth,   absolute    and    final, 

83;  the  foundation  of  the 

apostles  and  prophets,  87; 

manifestation  of  the,  218. 
Truth    and    sympathy,    the 

mighty   agencies    in    the 

Church's    twofold    work, 

275-279. 
Twentieth     century,     great 

work  of  the,  282-284. 


Undergraduates,  4,  5,  7,  63- 

66. 
Unskilled  laborers,  statistics 

of  the,  245. 
Upham,  Dr.  Charles  W.,  120. 
Uzziah,  a    great   leader   of 

men,  292. 

Valens,  emperor,  168. 
Vaughan,  Henry,  94. 
Virtue,  pretense  to,  70. 
Visiting,  pastoral,  234. 
Voltaire,  Francois,  205. 


Waldenses,  the,  281. 
Walsh,  Thomas,  180. 
Washington,  George,  163. 
Watt,  James,  244. 
Watts,  Isaac,  hymns  of,  262. 
Watson,  Richard,  6,  34,  156. 
Waverley  Novels,  Scott's,  41. 
Wayland,  Dr.  Francis,  232. 
Wesley,  John,  34,   70,   120, 

136,    179,    193,    I94>    218; 

Charles,   hymns   of,   262; 

Susanna,  62. 
Whitefield,  George,  41,  146, 

194. 
Will,   the    sacrifice    of    the, 

95-108;    freedom   of    the, 

102;    submission    to    the 

highest,  105. 
Witherspoon,  John,  37. 
Witnesses,  the  anointing  of 

Christ's,  114-119. 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  312. 
Workers,  trained  by  the  pas- 
tor, 228,  232,  233. 
World,  my  parish  is  the,  193- 

206. 
Worship,  public,  orderly  and 

irregular  conduct  of,  255- 

258. 
Wyclif,  John,  178,  281,  294. 
326 


Date  Due 

f- 

■'',• 

pirrT^ 

^ 

1 
i 

